


Incognito

by snowbearr



Category: Carol (2015), The Price of Salt - Patricia Highsmith
Genre: Age Difference, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Art, Canon Lesbian Character, Canon Lesbian Relationship, F/F, Fluff, Lesbian Character, Lesbian Sex, My First Fanfic, Not Beta Read, Photography
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-10
Updated: 2019-10-10
Packaged: 2020-04-23 20:41:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 28,955
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19158598
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snowbearr/pseuds/snowbearr
Summary: Therese is a striving photographer. She’s been highly credited for her astounding work at a young age of 25. She meets Carol Ross, an entrepreneur and a former Executive Vice President of Aird Group, one of the world’s leading advertising agencies. Their lives change as they cross each other’s paths.However, Carol has yet to discover Therese’s true self. Will they be able to withstand all the hurdles that could ruin their relationship?Set in modern day NYC.





	1. Friendship

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, everyone! After giving it some thought, I have decided to write my own fan fiction. I've never written anything before, so I apologize in advance for any grammatical/writing errors that you may encounter. English is not my first language, but I'm trying very hard to give you only the best. 
> 
> I will provide links/pictures for the main character's outfits, food, places, and etc. for reference and for you to appreciate the story even better. If you are interested to see them, you can click the words that are underlined and you'll be redirected to the image.
> 
> Your comments will be very much appreciated!

It was exactly 8:00 am when Therese turned off her alarm clock to finally start her day. Today is a big day for her as this is her first big photography exhibit to be held at [Danziger Gallery](https://imgur.com/a/MDCykEd), one of New York’s finest photography galleries. Her exhibit will go on for ten days, but it’s the debut of her exhibit that evening.

Therese quickly went off the bed to do some morning stretching, then she headed straight to her bathroom to brush her teeth and wash her face. People always thought it was weird of her to brush her teeth before eating breakfast, but she didn’t mind. It was what her dentist advised her anyway.

At around 8:40 am, she heard the doorbell ring. She rushed to the door to let Dannie in. Dannie has been her best friend since they were little kids.

“Hey, gorgeous,” greeted Dannie as he kissed Therese on the cheek and gave her a hug. “what’s cooking?”

“Hey, Dannie.” Therese smiled. “I’m making ham and cheese panini. Do you want some?”

“May I?”

“Of course, silly. Go ahead, pass me the bread, I’ll make you one.” Replied Therese as she started to get another piece of ham and cheese from the fridge.

“So… how are you feeling today? You nervous or excited?” he asked as he grabbed an apple from the counter and took a bite.

“Ecstatic. And hey! That’s my apple!”

“Shit! I’m sorry!”

“Get me one banana instead, will you? Slice it off into pieces, I need it for my oatmeal.”

They prepared breakfast in silence, until Dannie spoke. “Therese, I told you that I was gonna’ get you a dress for your exhibit and-”

Therese, with eyes filled with joy and excitement, cut him off. “Yeah. What about it? Where is it?!!”

Dannie took a deep breath, seemingly annoyed. “You do remember that I took a cab on the way here today right? My girlfriend will come here at noon to get us our outfits and she also volunteered to do your makeup for tonight.”

“Steph’s really the sweetest. I’m glad you two ended up together. I’m excited for my dress!”

“You should be.” Dannie winked.

“And here’s your panini.”

“Thanks, gorgeous.”

 

Dannie always called Therese gorgeous, and Therese didn’t mind that. He’s always liked her even when they were children. Way back in high school, Dannie asked her out to be his prom date and confessed his feelings for her that night, but Therese’s feelings for Dannie were downright platonic.

They didn’t speak for months after prom, but then they realized they couldn’t live without each other and that they’d still be better off as best friends. That kept them inseparable ever since. Many people have mistaken them for being an actual couple throughout the years and some have even called them off, saying that it’s impossible for a man and a woman to be best friends with each other, but they proved those people wrong.

When Dannie was 22, he introduced her to Steph, his girlfriend, whom he met as his co-intern for Conde Nast while he was finishing up his bachelor’s degree in Journalism. At 26, Dannie is now an Editor for Penguin Random House, the biggest publishing company in New York. He’s gained recognition and fame for writing amazing blurbs for many New York Times Best Selling books.

 

“Dannie, would you please eat faster? I know you’re doing that on purpose Dan-Dan but you’ve got to help me here. Therese frustratingly said as she pointed at her laptop.

“For the millionth time, stop calling me Dan-Dan.”

“For the millionth time, please eat faster.” said Therese in a very annoying tone.

They both sat next to each other on the floor of Therese’s living room, facing the square coffee table.

“So, what do you need help with?” inquired Dannie.

“Well, the reception area has a 42-inch TV and I’m gonna’ have to edit what plays on that screen right now, so can you choose some good photos that I can put on the video? It’s going to be like a slideshow of my work. And oh, help me out with the soundtrack too after this. We have to choose songs to play at the exhibit.”

“Sure, anything for you.”

 

* * *

 

“Abby, I told you I didn’t want to go with you. I don’t want to become a third wheel between you and Genevieve.” Carol sheepishly told her best friend Abby.

“Relax, you’re a grown ass adult. I’m sure you’ll love the exhibit. I’m not inviting you over just to be our third wheel. You can explore the whole gallery by yourself. You need to go out every once in awhile, Carol.”

“Fine.”

“And besides, Gen’s probably going to mingle with her friends from university all night. They haven’t seen each other in such a long time.”

  
“Who’s gonna’ take care of Rindy though? I can’t bring her back to Harge when I just got her here today.”

“A girl named Emily will come here later to take care of her. She’s also my nephew’s sitter and I already paid her to do it. Don’t worry.” reassured Abby as she caressed Carol by the shoulder.

“You better make sure that she’ll take proper care of my daughter.” Carol responded. “Gen is supposed to pick us up right? I’ll drive myself on the way there, but wait for me at the entrance later.”

“But why?”

“Because you two are annoying.” She let out a chuckle. “Kidding aside, I know you two have plans after, and I might head my way home earlier than usual. Who knows.”

“Well then that’s settled.”

* * *

 

  
It was already two in the afternoon when Therese heard another doorbell ring in her apartment.

“Steph!” Therese smiled, hugging Steph.

“Therese! I’ve missed you a lot. Congratulations on your first big exhibit. I had to make sure you were on the front page of the newspaper last week.” Steph winked. She works for The New York Times as a writer, and she was skillful enough to write an astonishing feature article about Therese’s work and her exhibit.

“I owe you a lot, Steph!” At this point, Therese just couldn’t contain her happiness. “Come inside.”

“Dannie, babe.” Said Steph as she came towards Dannie who was still sitting on the floor.

“Hey babe.” Dannie leaned in to give her a kiss. “Where are our clothes?”

“It’s in the trunk of my car, but yours are at the back seat. Get them yourself, I’m tired as hell.”

She handed him the keys.

Dannie glared at her for a moment with his lips pressed firmly together, and then continued to proceed outside of the apartment.

“So, how’s your love life? Are you never getting back with Richard?” Steph asked Therese as soon as Dannie got out.

Therese looked at her, unsure of what to say. “He cheated on me, Steph. I can’t let him back in my life again. You know how much pain he caused me when we were together.”

“Oh I’m sorry, T. I shouldn’t have mentioned him. Do you want me to set you up on a blind date? It’s been months since you last went on a date. Dannie told me about it, I hope you don’t mind.”

A blind date.. not bad, she realized. “Not at all, it’s not as if it was a secret. What kind of men would you set me up on a blind date with anyway?”

“What’s your ideal type of man?’

 _Certainly not someone like Richard_. She said to herself. “I want someone who’s older than me and knows what he wants.”

“And how old is old, Therese?”

“I’d say 30 and over?”

“Wow, I didn’t expect you to like middle-aged men.” Steph smirked. “I know you’re into self-made professionals so there’s that. But what about the looks?”

“I don’t tend to discriminate and please don’t kill me for this, Steph, but I don’t want someone who looks like a hobbit.”

They both laughed out loud in unison.

The two of them further discussed Therese's ideal type when it comes to men when Dannie suddenly entered the apartment.

“What are the two of you talking about? Am I missing something?” Interrupted Dannie.

“None that concerns you.” Replied Steph. She looked at the stuff that Dannie was carrying and turned back to see Therese's reaction.

Therese’s eyes widened as she saw one big orange box of what seemed like a very expensive piece of clothing. She also saw a casual suit that was in a hanger, which she knew was obviously for Dannie.

Steph smiled, and so did her boyfriend.

 

Dannie came from an affluent family. Growing up, his parents have always wanted him to study at a private elite school, but he requested to stay in a public school to be with Therese. He promised his parents that he’d study hard in return, and so he did. Both Dannie and Therese graduated high school as Magna Cum Laude.

It’s no secret that Dannie lived life with comfort and with no restrained budget with everything because of his parents, but now that he’s earning for himself, he’s learned to value the fruit of his own labor. He does writing commissions outside work, and uses the money from those commissions for his luxury; designer clothes and accessories. This explains why and how he got Therese a beautiful dress from Louis Vuitton.

 

“Surprise!!!” shouted Dannie, who’s obviously thrilled with Therese’s reaction as she opened the box. It was a black glitzed-up Louis Vuitton dress with a waistband.

“God, you shouldn’t have bothered. This is too beautiful for me. Thank you Dannie.” Therese hugged Dannie while being teary-eyed.

“It’s as beautiful as you are. This is my gift for you tonight. You deserve it. Congratulations, T.”

“How many writing commissions did you do to get this?”

“Just two. Easy work, easy money. Don’t worry about it.”

“Thanks again Dannie. I love it so much. I would’ve bought a dress at ASOS if it weren’t for you.”

They all laughed.

“You did say that you already have a pair of heels, right? Let me take a look at them.” Asked Steph.

“Oh yeah, it’s a pair of black open toe stilettos from Calvin Klein. Let me get it.” Therese went to her room to get the pair of Calvin Klein stilettos that she bought a year ago. She only wore it once at a date with Richard. She hated wearing heels, but she figured that tonight should be an exception.

“It matches the dress perfectly. I’m excited to see you in the whole outfit!”

“Me too! You should start with the makeup already, babe. We have to go to the gallery early before the exhibit actually starts.” Interrupted Dannie.

“Let me just take a quick shower.” Uttered Therese.

 

Steph is very skilled when it comes to makeup. If she weren’t a writer, she would have been a professional makeup artist already. It took her 45 minutes to finish Therese’s hair and makeup. She tied Therese’s black hair into a hideous bun, leaving out her bangs on the side of her forehead. Her makeup was a simple one; a bit of contour and dark eyeshadow, with her lips fully red in color.

[“How do I look?”](https://imgur.com/a/c8ffFCi) Asked Therese. She has yet to see her transformation.

“You look perfect. Let’s see what Dannie thinks. Babe! Come here!”

“Wait! I’m almost the- holy cow, T. Is that you? You look like a modern Audrey freaking Hepburn.” Dannie was in awe upon seeing his best friend.

“She hasn’t seen herself yet. But she’s gorgeous, right?”

“She always is.” He exclaimed.

Steph gestured Therese to look at herself in the mirror, and when she did, she was left in shock.

“Steph… I.. y-you did an amazing job. I love it so much. Thank you.”

Therese was on the verge of crying again. Steph took a step closer to give her a hug.

“You’re a beautiful woman, Therese. I just enhanced your pretty looks. I’m sorry I can’t come tonight, but I’ll visit the exhibit next week okay?”

Therese nodded and smiled shyly.

It took a couple more minutes for Therese to wear her dress. When she came out of her room to show her final look to her friends, they were left staggered.

“Therese! You really are stunning! That outfit suits you.” Steph couldn’t stop staring at Therese.

“I’m betting that someone will fall in love with her tonight.”

“Stop it, you two!” Therese barely smiles, but she couldn’t suppress her happiness at that moment.  
“You’re looking pretty good too, Dan-Dan.”

[Dannie ](https://imgur.com/a/bo16Of1)was wearing a casual black suit with  a maroon turtleneck underneath. He was also wearing his favorite black pair of leather shoes from Louis Vuitton.

“Thanks. I prepared well enough for this event.”

 

The three of them were already in Steph's car on the way to the exhibit when Therese eventually spoke.

“I honestly can't thank the two of you enough. You two are the most special friends that I have and I'm very glad to be receiving such strong support from the two of you.”

“We’re your family, T. We’ve always got your back. And speaking of family, aren't your parents coming tonight?” asked Dannie.

“They can just visit the exhibit some other time.” Therese's response was short.

Not wanting to push into the topic further, Therese kept mum during the whole ride.

“Thanks a lot for the ride, Steph. I wish I could offer you a glass of champagne inside right now but I know you have to go.”

“We can just go out for a drink some other time. Take care and have fun, T!”

“Take care, Steph.”

They gave each other a hug, then Therese and Dannie proceeded to go inside the gallery.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I am not, in any way, the owner of these photos. I have the photos as reference to make the story better for some of you. 
> 
> Danziger Gallery, New York: https://imgur.com/a/MDCykEd/  
> Therese's outfit: https://imgur.com/a/c8ffFCi/  
> Dannie's outfit: https://imgur.com/a/bo16Of1/


	2. The Meeting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't wait any longer so here's the second chapter! I never expected that any one of you would ever read the first one. I'm still not as confident with my writing but I hope you all liked the previous chapter. 
> 
> Your comments will be much appreciated and they would definitely motivate me to work harder and write the next chapters. Comments, suggestions, and feedback are what I need the most. 
> 
> Enjoy!

[Carol](https://imgur.com/a/kttvr0S) finally put on her dress and make up for the event. She wore a chic green dress from Lanvin and a nude color pair of Christian Louboutin stilettos.

“Carol, are you sure you’re not there to steal the photographer’s show?” [Abby](https://imgur.com/a/tbFvIRV) jokingly warned. She was wearing a beautiful floral dress from Erdem.

“Shut up, Abby.”

The two were still busy bantering with each other when they heard the doorbell ring on Carol’s apartment. 

“Hi Carol! Hey, Rindy!” Greeted [Genevieve](https://imgur.com/a/WG5CoOS) as she entered Carol’s apartment. She was wearing a blue lace dress.

“Wow, so I’m a ghost now? I can’t even get a “hi” from my girlfriend?” Shouted Abby, who was sitting on the couch.

Rindy chuckled. “Hi, Gen! I wish you could take me with you. Mommy won’t allow me to come.”

Carol placed her hand on Rindy’s shoulder. “It’s not that I don’t want to, sweet pea. But you can’t go there.” She gently caressed her hair then she let go of her to greet Genevieve. “Gen, welcome. Do you want a drink? You look beautiful as always.”

“Water is fine. Thanks Carol.” Genevieve moved closer to where Rindy is, “That’s not an event for little kids, Rindy. Aunt Abby and I will take you to a much better place next time. How’s that?”

“Deal!” Rindy exclaimed in excitement.

“So, Gen, who is this photographer that you speak highly of?” butted Carol as she handed Genevieve a glass of cold water.

“You’ll know when we get there. I met her when she was a freshman and I was in my senior year at [California College of the Arts](https://imgur.com/a/0wCa9P5). She’s a really good one, I tell you.”

“Aren’t you a graduate of Architecture? Is she an architect too?” asked Carol.

“Actually, no. She studied Photography. At CCA we don’t really have any popular organizations and people mostly just live life on their own, but we have circle of friends and what we usually do is we watch theater plays or visit galleries together, and Therese became a part of our circle.”  

“So those friends of yours that are coming in later are photographers or what?” Abby asked, completely intrigued.

“Not really. Some studied film, graphic design, print media, you get the picture.”

“I heard that her exhibit has already made quite a buzz.” Abby said.

“Yup, but only a few are invited tonight. I was told that I could tag along two other guests so I invited the two of you. I’m guessing that a lot of people will come and visit within the next few days. She was 21 when she graduated, pretty young, so she had a lot of time in her hands to build her portfolio. She got to CCA on a scholarship, and my friend’s not only creative, she’s very smart too. If I’m not mistaken, she’s taken photoshoots for Harper’s Bazaar, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and even Esquire.”

“That’s pretty impressive for a young woman. And she works full time?” Carol curiously asked.

“I don’t think so, but I’m not exactly sure either.”

Abby was texting on her phone when she called the attention of Carol. “Carol, Emily’s coming in a few minutes. You should talk to her about Rindy.”

 

When Emily arrived, she and Carol firmly discussed matters with regards to babysitting Rindy. Her daughter has a nanny hired by Harge since his schedule is always jampacked, but Carol always preferred to take care of Rindy by herself whenever she visits. Carol has always been a hands-on mother to her daughter, even during the time when she was still working at Aird Group. Her busy schedule did not stop her for taking good care of her daughter, and she was always very proud of that. To her, it was just a matter of managing time well. She never brought in any kind of work at home so she could eye on her daughter as often as she could.

 

“So, off we go, ladies?” Genevieve asked the two.

“Sure. See you later, sweet pea. Don’t forget to behave or I won’t buy you your favorite doughnuts! I love you.”  Carol kissed her daughter on the forehead and the lips. “Emily? Please take good care of my daughter. Make yourself at home.”

Emily nodded.

“I love you too and bye mommy. Bye Aunt Abby. Bye Gen.”           

 “Goodbye Rindy! Be a good girl!” Abby and Gen kissed Rindy on the cheek.

 

The drive from Carol’s apartment all the way to Danziger Gallery took about 30 minutes. Carol drove by herself, while tailing Abby and Genevieve’s car which was in front of hers.

Once they got out of their vehicles, Abby suggested that they eat dinner first.

“I think we’re too early for the event. Should find some place to eat first?”

“Sure, but let’s do it fast because I don’t want to torture my legs with these heels.” Genevieve, who wasn’t used to wearing heels at all, had no choice but to agree because she was getting a bit starved.

They all decided to hop in just one car to head to[ Sant Ambroeus](https://imgur.com/a/qdd0WXy), a famous Italian restaurant in Madison Avenue, which was also just a few minutes away from the gallery.

The three women decided to get pasta; Spaghetti Carbonara for Carol, Tagliatelle alla Bolognese for Abby, and Linguine al Pesto for Genevieve. They straightly headed back to the gallery after dinner.

 

* * *

 

“I am very pleased to have you here at my gallery, Therese.” Said James Danziger, the owner of Danziger Gallery.

“Thank you, James. This is a once in a lifetime moment and I can’t believe this is all happening to me right now.”

“You deserve it. You’re the youngest artist I’ve ever offered to have a solo-show in here.”

“I’m very honored.” Therese said with a broad smile.

 

The exhibit started out with a _“bang”_ , as Dannie described to Therese. He knew Therese’s exhibit would blow up since it has been the talk of town for the past couple of weeks.

“Therese! Your photographer friends are here!” Dannie told Therese, who was busy talking to Suzanne, one of Danziger Gallery’s staff. She was in charge of dealing with clients who are interested in buying works from exhibitors.

“Thanks, Dannie. Why don’t you take a break for now? You’ve been helping me all around today. Get a drink or have dinner, have some fun.”

“Are you all settled now? Do you still need help with anything?”

“I can do this, thanks Dan-Dan.”

“Sure. I promised Steph that I’ll wait for you and ride with you in the Uber so I’m not going anywhere until you tell me that we’re leaving.”

“Hey, if you want you can leave early. I can ride the Uber myself. I know you’re tired, Dannie. You’ve been with me the whole day.”

“It’s final, T. You got sexually harassed twice this month, I have to make sure you’re safe, plus Steph will kill me if I left you all alone tonight.”

Therese thought that Dannie had a point, but she didn’t want to bother her best friend too much especially when he’s already done a lot for her. Just a two weeks ago, Therese was crying while talking to Dannie and Steph, telling them that a man caressed her thigh at the subway, and that she couldn’t do anything because she was scared. She’s also been catcalled that same week in her neighborhood. That month was the most unsafe and terrified she’s ever felt.

“This’ll be the last time you'll take me home alright? I'll just use my car next time.”

“I don't understand why you never use your car but you really should. And thank god this gallery is only open from 11 am until 6 pm starting tomorrow onwards. At least you can get here and go back home by yourself early.”

There nodded. “I’ll visit the gallery everyday but I probably won't stay too long. And hey, I'll catch up with some of my friends for now alright? Just come to me if you ever need me.”

“Sure.”

 

Therese talked to her friends from CCA for some catching up. She was never the type to talk much. In fact, she was always described by her friends and family as timid. She dreaded talking to people, especially the ones that she wasn't really close with, but it's part of her job to show hospitality that evening.

Therese decided to take a break from all the talking, so she just started to wander the around the gallery to look at the people's reaction to her photographs. She smiled upon seeing that most of her guests looked very much pleased with her work. She can no longer count the times she's been complimented for her work that night, and that made her very proud, but she remained to stay humble.

 

Just as she was about to walk her way to where Dannie is, she heard somebody calling her name from behind.

“Therese!”

Therese turned back to see that it was her friend Genevieve.

“Oh my god, Gen! I didn't know you were coming. You said you were busy.” Therese hugged Gen. “I missed you a lot. I'm glad we're meeting up again in a few days, we'll have lots of time to catch up by then.”

“I missed you too, Terry. And of course I had to come and visit tonight. How could I not?” Genevieve smiled.

“Did you come here by yourself?”

“Oh, no. I’m with my girlfriend and her best friend. In fact, I'd like for you to meet them.” Genevieve tried to look for Abby and Carol. “There they are. Abby, Carol!”

Therese raised her eyebrows in confusion. She's always thought that Genevieve was straight. She looked at the direction where Genevieve was looking and saw two women who appear to be older than her and her friend. The two of them smiled at Therese as they walked closer.

“Terry, I'd like you to meet my girlfriend, Abby Gerhard, and this is her best friend Carol Ross.”

“Hi Therese! Gen has told me a lot of great things about you. Congratulations on your first exhibit.” Abby said, smiling as she offered her a handshake.

“Hello there. I'm Therese Belivet. Thanks and it's nice meeting you, Abby. Feel free to look around the gallery later. I hope you'll like the photos.” Therese shook Abby's hand and smiled back at her, then she looked at the other woman next to Abby.

“Hi, I'm very pleased to meet you.” Therese was the first one who spoke as she offered Carol a hand. The two women were really good looking, but Therese's eyes were fixated at the beaut in front of her. _I've never seen someone as beautiful as her before._ She thought.

Carol took the hand and replied back. “Hello, Therese. How are you? Congratulations on your first exhibit. We're all very happy to be here.”

Therese felt her palm sweating upon shaking Carol's hand. She was nervous and intimidated for some reason and she couldn't almost speak so she had to clear her throat.

“I-I'm good! Please make yourselves comfortable, get a glass of champagne if you need to.” She almost couldn't make eye contact with Carol after the handshake, so she decided to talk to all of them instead.

“Sure thing, Terry. But I'm going to have to catch up with our friends at the moment. Do you want to come with me?” asked Genevieve.

“I wish I could but I already talked to them earlier. I have to speak to the other guests for now.”

“I’ll catch up with you on Wednesday, then. Abby, Carol, would you like to come with me? I want to introduce you to our friends. Then you can roam around the gallery after.”

 

The three of them walked towards Genevieve and Therese's friends from CCA while Therese started greeting other people again. At around half an hour later, she saw Carol all by herself, staring at one of her photos. Therese decided to get two glasses of champagne and walked her way to where Carol is.

“Hey.” Therese shyly greeted.

“Oh, hey.” Carol, whose arms were initially crossed, immediately put them down and smiled. She saw the glass of champagne the other woman was holding and she heard her spoke.

“For you. Thought you might want one.” Therese barely smiled as she offered the other glass of champagne to Carol. She was still feeling shy around her.

Carol gladly took the wine. “Thank you. This photo looks amazing by the way.” She pointed at the canvas that was in front of them, then she looked back to Therese.

 

The two of them almost got lost in each other's gaze.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry I had to end this chapter with a cliffhanger. If I didn't end it that way, then this chapter would've been very long. Stay tuned for the next one!


	3. Champagne

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to upload this chapter as early as I could while I still have a lot of free time, since I cannot promise quick updates once I get busy with work. 
> 
> I may not have a lot of readers, but I just want to say that I appreciate those who are still interested with my story, especially those who take the time to comment on my chapters. You guys motivate me. Thank you, everyone! Enjoy this short chapter!

“Why thank you. I think you look amazing too.” Replied Therese.

_Holy shit. Why did I say that?_

“I mean with your whole outfit and everything. You’re the most good looking person here.” She added almost immediately.

Carol smiled. “Thank you, darling. You too. You're young and beautiful.” She looked at the woman in front of her from her face to her dress, as if examining her, then she looked straight into her eyes once more.

Therese blushed. No one’s ever called her darling before. Not even Richard. She’s been complimented for her good looks that evening, but hearing it from Carol certainly made it more special.

“How come you’re here all alone?” Therese finally broke the few seconds of silence.

“They’re still talking to your friends. I wanted to roam around and see your work.” Carol said as she circled the rim of her glass with her index finger. "Have we met before?” she quickly added after.

"I don't-" Therese looked at Carol for a good second, thinking about whether she's already met her or not. _Staring at her for a second felt like eternity._ "I don't think so. Why?"        

"It's just that your name sounds very familiar. Nevermind. Cheers?" Carol smiled as she moved her hand closer to Therese’s so they could clink their glasses together.

"Cheers," Therese smiled nervously, "you must've seen my name in the newspaper recently. Maybe that's why you think you've heard of my name before." she said as she sipped on her champagne.

"Probably.” Carol no longer reads newspapers, but the name Therese Belivet has really struck to her the first time she heard of it that night. It was as if she's heard of that name way before.

Realizing that Carol probably didn't want the subject to go further, Therese immediately thought of something else to talk about so as not to bore her beautiful guest. "So, are you into photography at all?"

Carol shook her head. "Not much, but my ex-husband was. I learned a few stuff just from watching him but I never really got into it myself."

 _She was once married_ , Therese thought. "Alright, I see. So tell me what you know about photography." She asked Carol.

"Let's see.. I do know that there are different kinds of lenses for different types of photography. For instance, amateurs usually use a 50mm or 35mm lens with a minimum aperture of around f1.4 or f1.8 for portrait photography. For landscape, photographers usually use a wide lens." Therese stared at her while she was explaining, occasionally giving out a nod. Carol paused as she slightly got distracted by Therese's deep green eyes. "God, am I even making sense? I might've been just blurting out the wrong information in front of a professional photographer!" She said as threw her other hand up in the air while smiling.

Therese let out a small chuckle, "No! You actually explained it really well! You know a lot for someone who doesn't do photography. Are you sure you don't take photos at all?" 

"Oh, believe me. I don't even know how to turn on a DSLR." 

They both laughed together.

"I must admit though, that I got a bit interested with photography thanks to you. Your photos are a work of art.  I haven't gotten through all of them yet but the ones I've seen are more than perfect." 

"Thank you, Carol." Therese felt her cheeks burning. "Let me know if you want to start to get into photography. I can teach you a few tricks." It was an impulsive decision that she almost regret saying. 

"That would be so kind of you, darling." Carol smiled.

 _Darling. She said it again._ Therese can't help but feel her cheeks burning hot and she felt as if there were butterflies in her stomach.

Carol saw Therese touching her cheek with the back of her hand. “What’s wrong?” She asked out of concern.

Therese quickly withdrew her hand from her cheek, her eyes widening. “Nothing. I just feel hot. It might be the champagne. I've already had three glasses of it.” She lied. She wasn't aware that she was subconsciously touching her own cheek a few seconds ago.

"Ms. Belivet, Mr. Martin wants to speak to you. I think he wants you to do a commission for him. He's waiting for you near the reception area."

"I'll be right there. Thanks, Suzanne." 

Carol looked down on her feet, trying to hide her disappointment because her lovely conversation with Therese-which she never wanted to end-will soon be finished but she immediately looked back up to her so as not to show her true emotions.

"I feel bad leaving you like this, but can we talk again after awhile?"

"No worries! I've yet to check all of the photos anyway." Carol started to fidget the ring on her middle finger in her right hand. "I might actually not see you again after I check your other photographs out... I have to head home because my daughter's waiting for me and I told the sitter that I'd be home before ten."

"Oh. I'm sorry." Therese felt sad upon hearing Carol. "It's alright, I appreciate you for coming here, Carol, and it’s really nice meeting you and your friend Abby. I'll always be down to help if you ever start to get into photography. Take care on your way home."  She smiled as she offered her hand to Carol.

"It was a pleasure meeting you too, and yes, I will. Congratulations again on your exhibit. You are amazing. Enjoy the rest of the night!" Carol shook Therese's hand. 

They stood facing each other for a few seconds after the handshake, until Carol leaned in to hug her and kiss her, cheek-to-cheek. 

It was a sudden gesture that Carol never even thought of doing in the first place, but she just couldn't help it. Therese was lovely and she had such a great time with her company. She felt her heart beating so fast, but she didn’t know the reason why. Perhaps she was just nervous, she thought.

They both stood frozen after the kiss. Therese almost could not feel her legs but she knew she had to go. She smiled at Carol for one last time and decided to walk away when Carol suddenly called her attention.

“Oh, Therese! The champagne was good. Let me guess, [Selosse](https://imgur.com/a/AxohQZ7)?”

“Right on point.” Therese winked at her and went straight to the reception.

 

Therese was already done speaking to one of her clients, Mr. Martin, and she’s now drinking and chatting back with her friends when Suzanne called her attention.

“What is it?” Therese smiled as she noticed the excitement in Suzanne’s eyes.

“Your _China_ photograph has just been sold, and so are your other photos, but you told me to give you an update specifically with that one photo if it ever got sold or not.”

“Really?” Therese was smiling from ear to ear. It wasn’t the best photo she’s ever taken, but _China_ was her absolute favorite because that photo meant so much to her. She also wasn’t expecting anyone to buy that photograph, especially during the first day of the exhibit.

“Others have actually tried to lowball their way to get that photograph, but the buyer told me that the photograph was worth its price. She bought it for the same amount.”

“Who’s the client? Do I know her?” Therese asked.

“She goes by the name of Carol Ross.” Replied Suzanne.

Therese gasped. She knew that Carol is part of the wealthy; it was obvious by the way she dresses and looks, but she didn't expect her to buy any of her work, especially not her favorite piece. However, in a way, Therese felt quite relieved, because the photo will soon be in the hands of someone special. _It was not just any person or stranger who bought the photograph. It was Carol._

“Where is she? Is she still here?”

“I'm afraid not. She immediately left right after she processed the payment.”

“But you have her contact number, right?”

“I have secured her contact information and address so we could deliver the photograph to her after the exhibit”

“I see.”

 

Therese contemplated whether to contact Carol, but she figured that it would be such a rash decision to call her especially when she has nothing important to say, so she just dismissed the thought instead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope that I did not bore you out with this chapter. What are your thoughts? :)


	4. China

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got carried away with this chapter, so enjoy this long one! I just want to say thanks to those who are still reading this fanfic.

She set her photograph entitled _China_ at a whopping price of $5,200. She knew it was a ridiculous amount, especially for a first time exhibitor, but she purposely priced it that way because she initially        didn’t want anyone else to buy it and she’d rather just keep it to herself, but Dannie insisted that she should still put it on display and try to find out if someone else will find the photo worth buying.

“I’m just trying to prove a point. I swear it’s so good and powerful you could almost feel the photo in your bones.” Dannie said when they first talked about it before the exhibit.

“I guess you’re right. I wonder who the lucky buyer will be.” Said Therese.

The [piece ](https://imgur.com/a/1CpORBq)was an enlarged photo with the original being taken using a film camera. It was shot in Shanghai, China when Therese went there for a visit. The photo was about a woman laying in bed with her winter clothes on, while holding onto a piece of clothing that was next to her. 

Most of the photographs on display were enlarged and printed on canvas, while some were in their original size and printed in photo paper. Unlike her other pieces of work, _China_ was printed on wood.

 

The debut of the exhibit has finally wrapped up, and it’s just Therese, Dannie, and the rest of the staff left in the gallery.

 

 “I’m so happy and proud of you, T.” Dannie opened his arms wide, signaling Therese to come and hug him.

Therese went straight into his arms and hugged him tight. “Thank you, Dannie. This exhibit wouldn’t be perfect without you.”

“Duh.” Dannie joked. “So, who was that woman you were talking to earlier? She’s really beautiful.”

Therese’s eyes lit up at the sudden mention of Carol. “Her name’s Carol, she’s the best friend of Gen’s girlfriend Abby.”

“I did see Gen and Abby together, they were really cute. What did you and Carol talk about?”

“Nothing much, but I did find her fascinating. You know what she did? She bought _China_.”

“Shit! Really? You’re lying.” Dannie almost couldn’t believe Therese.

“Really! I wish I was lying but I’m not.”

“See? I told you someone was gonna’ buy that photo. Stop doubting yourself all the time.”

“You know I have trust issues. I don’t even trust myself anymore.” Therese said in the lowest voice possible, but enough for Dannie to hear.

Dannie, not knowing what to say, flicked Therese’s forehead, unaware that he flicked a little too hard.

“Ouch! That hurts!” Therese winced in pain.

“Sorry not sorry. But hey, don’t worry. If I find Richard, I’m gonna’ kick his balls so hard that he won’t be able to reproduce another like-minded asshole.”

Therese giggled. “Don’t be too harsh on him.”

“He was very harsh to you.”

 

It was already past midnight when Therese and Dannie got an Uber. The two of them were almost too tired to speak, but Dannie still managed to say something to Therese.

“She seems nice.”

“Who are you talking about?”

“The one who bought your photograph.”

“You mean Carol? Yeah she is.” Therese said, while looking outside through the car’s lightly tinted window as she recalled her moments with Carol earlier.

“Aren’t you going to thank her or something? For buying your most precious photograph?”

“I don’t think I would. I just don’t see the point in doing it.” The truth is far from what came out of her mouth. She badly wanted to call her, but a part of her mind says otherwise.

“If you say so. Are you not going to tell me what the two of you talked about?”

With Dannie being too pushy, Therese just couldn’t say no to him. “We just talked about photography in general, and she also mentioned that she thought my name was familiar. I told her that she might have seen my name at The New York Times because of Steph’s article.”

“Does she do any photography?”

“She doesn’t, but she knew a bit about cameras. She said her ex-husband’s into photography.”

“Ex-husband? Interesting. But hey, she’s got a keen eye for art. Even if you think that _China_ isn’t your best display on the gallery, personally, I think it is. And Carol probably thinks the same.”

“I know what you’re gonna’ say next, Dannie. ‘Great minds think alike’, yada yada.” Therese rolled her eyes.

He laughed. “You two seem close together earlier. She even hugged you.”

“I think she’s just very friendly, even to strangers.” Therese took a sigh of relief, thinking that Dannie might not have seen Carol kiss her from cheek to cheek.

 

When they finally arrived to Therese’s apartment, Dannie finally bid his goodbye to his best friend as he called in another Uber to get to his own place.

“Take care, Dan-Dan. Thanks for everything.”

“You too, gorgeous. Good night.”

 

 As soon as Therese got inside her apartment, she immediately went straight to the bathroom to take a long, well deserved shower.

Wearing just an extra-large shirt and her underwear, Therese jumpingly laid onto her bed. Just as she was about to doze off, the memories of the exhibit recurred to her and she smiled. She never thought of having her own solo exhibit. Just three months ago, James Danziger recognized her work and he has personally invited her to have a solo show at his gallery. Three months was too short of a notice, but she was still able to compile many photographs on time. She had a lot of unreleased photographs that she took three months prior to the main event, so that gave her the edge to be fully prepared for the exhibit.

She gently pinched her left forearm, thinking that everything might not be real. _Everything’s real._ She turned to her side, gripped her blanket, then smiled again.

And then she remembered Carol. She felt an instant form of regret that she didn’t take Carol’s contact number from Suzanne. She realized that Dannie was right. Carol is her most special client, and it wouldn’t hurt to be extra nice to her.

 _I’ll just ask Suzanne for Carol’s number tomorrow._ She fell asleep right after.

 

It was already 11:20 am when Therese woke up. It’s one of the best sleeps that she’s had in awhile. For the past weeks she has been very busy working on her exhibit and doing photo shoots for her clients. Being a freelance photographer was hard, but she knew that being tied down to a company wouldn’t do her any good. Therese always lived her life like a free bird. Working for a company would mean being caged up like an animal, thus limiting her freedom when it comes to her craft; photography, that’s why she chose to work independently instead.

Contrary to many hearsay, Therese wasn’t exactly living the life of a rich photographer in spite of being phenomenal in her field of career. Sure, magazine collaborations paid her well, and many of her clients come from the rich, but she had bills to pay, an apartment to rent, and a stomach to feed. Not to mention her photography equipment and her own small photography studio at Chelsea. _New York is ridiculously fucking expensive_. As she always says.

Despite not being rich, Therese was proud that she’s financially secure. Spending money and splurging on useless stuff wasn’t her thing, she liked investing her money on things that matter the most for her, as well as saving up money. Her only guilty pleasure was traveling, which she does every once in awhile.

 

Just as Therese got up to sit on her bed, she saw her phone on the bedside table light up. Not knowing that it was silent the whole time, she was surprised to see many notifications from her phone. Most of her notifications were from her friends and colleagues congratulating her for her exhibit, while some were work emails and a bunch of new future clients who wants to collaborate with her. She noticed the surge of increase of inquiries in her email. Without much speculation, she figured that the event from last night might have been the reason why many have become so interested with her work. It made her heart leap with joy.

Before taking a shower, Therese felt her stomach grumble. It has been almost a day since she has eaten something. She took a quick shower, dressed up in a [big black and blue sweater with leggings and a pair of black sneakers from Nike](https://imgur.com/a/BaRO3rF). It wasn’t exactly an appropriate thing to wear at a gallery, but she wouldn’t stay there long and she had to wear comfortable clothes because she has to visit her studio to do some work.

After all her preparations, she picked up her black leather handbag while holding her MacBook and car keys to her chest to go to the parking lot. She drove to Subway for lunch and ordered a [roast beef sandwich and two chocolate chip cookies](https://imgur.com/a/B77Geln). It was her way of treating herself for a job well done from the previous evening.

It was already 2 pm when Therese arrived at the gallery. There were a lot of people but not as many as there were last night. Still, it was a delight for her to see fresh, new faces exploring her work. She found herself looking for Suzanne, then she saw a sight of the woman talking to a possible buyer. Therese waited for her to finish and then she came towards where Suzanne is.

“Suzanne, hi.”

Suzanne stared at the woman in front of her for a second, not realizing it was Therese at first glance.

“Ms. Belivet, hi! How are you? “

“Good. Do you have any updates for me?”  

“To start off, your exhibit’s going very well. You sold a lot of photos last night. We haven’t sold that much in just one night before, that was a first time.”

“That’s.. cool.” Therese replied, feeling shy.

“There’s still 9 days until your exhibit ends but we’re almost halfway through selling all 30 of your photos. You’re really great, Ms. Belivet.”

“They wouldn’t be sold if it weren’t for you. Thanks, Suzanne.”

“By the way,” Suzanne segued. “One of the cleaning staff found a [leather key holder](https://imgur.com/a/yLfGu26) last night. It’s normally our policy to keep all lost items and wait until someone comes back to pick them up but we were thinking that maybe you know the owner of this key holder since those people from last night were your guests anyway. Also, this key holder has initials in it.”

“Where’s the key holder?”

Suzanne searched into one of her pockets to get the key holder and then she handed it to Therese. “Here it is.”

 

Therese examined the key holder. It had two keys in it and it had the initials C.R. She quickly recalled the names of her guests from last night but couldn’t remember anyone with the same initials.

“Do you still have the guest list from last night?”

“I don’t think we do, sorry.”

“It’s okay. Also, can you send me the contact details of all the buyers from last night? I need them in my email ASAP.”

“Sure thing.”

“I’ll keep this for now, alright?” Therese raised and jiggled the key holder for the woman to see. “I’ll come back tomorrow to visit again. Thanks for your hard work, Suzanne.” Therese smiled as she rushed to the exit.

 

When Therese arrived at her small studio in Chelsea, she immediately went to her office table to work on her laptop. First thing she had to do was to find the guest who left the key holder at the gallery. She has already closely checked the guest list PDF on her laptop but couldn’t find someone with the initials of C.R. She gave up, thinking that the owner might not be in the guest list as each guest were allowed to bring in one or two persons with them for the event. A few minutes after giving up trying to find the key holder owner, an email notification popped in her screen. It was the list of contact details of her photograph buyers.

 _Finally._ Therese took a quick scan of all the names and instantly found Carol. She looked at the number and address. She wasn’t surprised to find out that Carol lived at SoHo, one of New York City’s wealthiest neighborhoods. Therese took a glance at the buyer’s list again, and then it hit her that it was only Carol who had the initials of C.R. among all the names that she’s seen that day. _Carol Ross_.

Therese smiled, knowing that she finally has an excuse to call the woman now. It was to ask her if she was the owner of the key holder. There’s still a huge chance that the owner might not be her but there’s no harm in asking, she figured. She snatched her phone at her bag as fast as she could and texted Carol’s number.

THERESE: Good afternoon Ms. Ross. This is Therese Belivet, the photographer from the exhibit last night. Please let me know when the best time is to call you as I have something important to ask and say. Thanks.

It took her more than five minutes of constructing the message. The text message was too formal, but she didn’t want to be disrespectful either. It wasn’t until the next 30 minutes that she received a reply from Carol.

CAROL: Hi, Therese. I remember. Is it an urgent matter?

THERESE: No, not really.

 CAROL: You can call me now. 😊

The reply was so fast it almost made Therese jump from her seat from all the nervousness she felt. Finally, she pressed the call button. It took no more than five seconds for the other person on the line to answer it.

“Hello?” Carol responded.

Therese’s heart was beating very fast. “H-hi.”

“Oh, hi. How are you, Therese?”

Therese noticed a change in Carol’s voice. It was as if she was doing something while she was on the phone. Her voice from last night was deeper, but today it felt a little bit high pitched, she wondered.

“I’m good. Listen, I-I think you’re busy. We can talk ab-“

“No! Go on. I’m just cooking a snack for my daughter.”

“Are you sure? It might be dangerous to talk while you’re cooking.”

“Okay, hang on, darling.”

Therese heard the control panel of Carol’s stove as she turned it off.

“So, what is it that you want to talk about, Therese”? Carol’s voice grew deeper again.

Therese suddenly couldn’t think of what she was going to say. She was left speechless for a moment that Carol had to ask her if she was still on the line.

“Still here. W-well.. first of all, I.. I just wanted to say thanks for buying one of my photographs.” She stuttered.

Therese could swear that she could almost feel Carol smiling from the other end. “It’s no problem, Therese. I loved it very much. I can’t wait to put it on display soon. Is that all you’re going to say?”

“Really, you loved it?”

“Of course.”

“It’s my most favorite piece in the whole exhibit. I’m glad you were the one who bought it.”

“See? We have the same taste.”

Therese let out a soft laughter. “Yeah. And oh, I almost forgot to mention.”

“Yes?”

“Did you perhaps lose a key holder?”

The line was silent for a few seconds.

“Uhh… I don’t think I have a key holder. Let me check my purse.”

Therese heard Carol place her phone on a flat surface and then she heard footsteps. She also heard a bit of Carol and her daughter’s inaudible voice from the background.

After about a minute or two, Carol finally spoke. “Still there?”

“I’m here.”

“My keys are still on my purse. I don’t have a key holder.”

“Are you sure? The staff found a leather key holder and I had the impression that it was yours, because it had the initials C.R. on it and you were the only one I know who has those initials.”

“Yup. I’m positive.”

“I see. Thanks for letting me know.”

“It’s no problem. Are you at the exhibit?” asked Carol

“No. I was there earlier, but I had to leave quickly because I still have work to do.”

“On a Sunday? What a workaholic.”

“Gotta’ make ends meet. Well, then.. Thanks again Carol.”

“You should take a break some time. Good luck with work, Therese.”

Then the call ended. Just like that. Therese felt disappointed because of how quick it ended, and she wished she had more things to say, but it would be weird for her to just strike a conversation with Carol, especially since they barely knew each other.

 

She decided to just continue on with her work-which was mostly just answering emails-for the rest of the day. When the clock hit 6:00, she was already prepared to leave and get back home to her apartment.

 

Therese made mac and cheese for dinner. She hated boxed mac and cheese, so she always just cooked her own from scratch. She usually cooks more than one serving of mac and cheese so that there will be leftovers which she could eat for lunch the next day. This time she was so hungry that she finished them all.

She went to bed early so she could watch a movie or two on her TV, but then she received an iMessage from Carol.

CAROL: Hi, Therese. You there?

Therese was surprised. _Why would she text me at this hour?_ It took her two minutes to come up with a reply.

THERESE: Yes. What is it?

CAROL: I saved your number. I hope you don’t mind.

THERESE: I totally don’t. I saved yours too because I had to call you earlier. Now we’re even. Why did you message me?

CAROL: Oh, nothing. I was just bored. Figured it’d be nice to greet the new person on my contact list. What are you doing?

THERESE: Laying in bed. I’m too tired to function but it’s still too early to sleep.

CAROL: Me too. I just put Rindy to bed. She’s too hyper, my energy’s now all drained out.

Therese received another message from Carol before she even had the time to reply to her previous message.

CAROL: So, when did you take that photograph?

THERESE: Rindy is your daughter? And you mean China?

CAROL: She is, and yes. I believe I’m allowed to ask the photographer some questions related to the photograph since I bought it, right? 😊

Therese smiled at the emoji.

THERESE: I took it last year. The photograph was a result of a heartbreak. My model felt the same feeling as I did. Maybe that’s why it felt very real.

CAROL: Sorry to hear that, dear.

THERESE: No need to be sorry. It wasn’t your fault. Where are you planning to display the wood print?

CAROL: In my room, so I could stare at it all the time. 😉

Therese blushed. After a few seconds, she suddenly thought of an idea.

THERESE: Since you bought the wood print anyway, how about I give you the original photo print in advance? I also still have the negatives of the other shots from that photo shoot, I can give them to you if you like. You still can’t get the wood print since it has to be on the exhibit for ten days. I’ll give the negatives as a freebie, and as a way of saying thanks to you. You’re special. 😊

CAROL: HOW CAN I SAY NO? You’re the best. <3 Should we meet?

The thought of seeing Carol for the second time made her heart race.

THERESE: Only if you’re not busy. When are you free?

CAROL: I’m usually free any time of the day, but tomorrow morning I have to send Rindy off to my ex-husband before she goes to school. Do you have work tomorrow?

THERESE: I do, actually. But I don’t have any fixed schedule when there are no photo shoots. I’ll also have to visit the gallery tomorrow.

CAROL: Why don’t we visit together?

THERESE: That would be nice. 😉

CAROL: What time?

THERESE: How about 5 pm? I’ll treat you to dinner afterwards. I know my photo was way overpriced. I need to at least give back to you.

CAROL: You don’t have to treat me to dinner. Your piece was worth its price, darling. But sure, we can have dinner together.

THERESE: I insist. Do you want me to print the negatives BTW?

CAROL: Don’t. Leave them be.

THERESE: Alright. :P

CAROL: So, see you at Danziger tomorrow?

THERESE: See ya! Good night, Carol.

CAROL: Good night, Therese.

 

Therese almost couldn’t believe that she just exchanged text messages with Carol. She was glad that it was a non-verbal conversation, because she probably would have been speechless if it was the other way around. She was no longer able to watch a movie that night as she fell asleep just a few moments after ending her conversation with Carol.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What are your thoughts? Did you like the exchange of text messages between Therese and Carol? Your comments will be much appreciated. :)


	5. A little bit of Carol

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really liked writing this chapter because in this chapter we get to see a little bit of Carol as Carol, and not Carol through the eyes of Therese. 
> 
> I love writing dialogues. It might be boring to some, so please be warned when I say that there will be more dialogues in the future. 
> 
> For now, please enjoy this long chapter.

It was only 5 in the morning when Carol woke up the next day. She doesn’t usually wake up this early, only during Monday mornings when she’s with Rindy. Mondays have always been such a busy day for her, even during the time when she was still working full-time. She and Harge have arranged this kind of set-up for their daughter; Mondays to Thursdays at Harge’s place, and Fridays to Sundays at Carol’s. Sometimes it varies when there’s a conflict with their schedule.

 

Carol cooked pancakes for breakfast with banana slices and maple syrup as toppings. She also put one strawberry pop tart on her daughter’s plate. Carol has always been very strict with her daughter’s sugar intake, but she couldn’t resist not giving her sweet tooth of a daughter a piece of pop tart for breakfast that day.

 

“Rindy, sweet pea, wake up.” She whispered to her daughter’s ear once the clock struck 6.

Rindy opened her eyes gently and smiled upon the sight of her mother in front of her. “Hi, mommy.”

“Good morning my baby.” Carol kissed her daughter’s eyes and cheek. “I love you. There’s a strawberry pop tart waiting for you at the dining table, but first you gotta’ eat your pancake.” She smiled back to Rindy.

Her daughter’s eyes flashed with excitement as she hurriedly got out of bed to run into the dining table.

It was obvious that Rindy ate slower than her mother, and that gave Carol the chance to stare at her beautiful little carbon copy and thank the gods for giving her such an amazing gift of life. It’s been a year since her divorce with Harge, and it has been such a pain to wake up every morning and sleep every night without the presence of her daughter. Sometimes Carol would wake up in the middle of the night and cry, thinking about how much of a happy family she had a few years back with Harge and Rindy when she was still a baby. But she knew better that there was nothing else that could save her relationship with her ex-husband. Even their visits to the marriage counselor didn’t help.

Carol loved Harge and Harge loved her back, sure. But their love was never strong enough to begin with. It was a love with respect and care, but never the kind of love with passion. And according to Harge’s slap of reality, _“It was over before it even started.”_

The two of them met each other after graduating from University, both filled with a strong desire to excel in their field of career; advertising. They worked ultimately harder than most people their age-which led them to build and achieve such eminent positions at Aird Global-until they became good friends and partners, so much so that they thought being good partners equaled to being in love with each other, and so they settled for marriage after a few months of dating.         

Their first few years as a married couple went on smoothly, just like any other new married couples would. But as days, weeks, and months went by they found themselves being much happier and content in the company of other people like their friends and colleagues, or by busying themselves with work. The only moments that they got together were for their daughter. The _“I love you’s”,_ the dates, and the sex significantly reduced, and before they knew it they were already filing for divorce.

It was an uncomplicated divorce. There was no drama involved. No cheating, no abuse, no anything, except for the custody of their daughter. But then it was a no-brainer that they would end up having joint custody for Rindy anyway. It was the best that they could do for their daughter since they ended their relationship with no hard feelings and with closure. They figured it would also be best to keep things civil between the two of them and still be good friends, not just for the sake of Rindy, but because they still did love each other as friends, no more, no less.

“Mom? Mommy!”

Carol snapped back to reality, not realizing the tear in the corner of her eye.

“Why are you crying, mommy?

“Oh no, baby. I’m just sleepy.” Carol faked her yawn and rubbed her eyes, pretending that she was sleepy. 

“Why do you never eat pop tarts?”

“They’re too sweet for my liking. Are you all done? Let’s get you cleaned up so I can drop you off to daddy.”

 “I heard daddy say he can’t come to our musical play at school next next week. Is that true?” Rindy lowered her head and stared at her plate, making a sad face.

“Really? He said that?” Carol raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah, I heard him when he was talking to grandma on the phone.”

 “I’ll talk to him, don’t worry.”

After breakfast, Carol assisted her daughter to take a bath and dressed her up. After she takes her daughter back to Harge, he has to send her to school. Mondays were always this hectic for the two of them, but nonetheless, they didn’t bother.

The drive from SoHo to Harge’s townhouse in Tribeca took no longer than ten minutes. It was part of their arrangement not to live far from each other for Rindy.

 

“Goodbye, mommy. I’m going to miss you.”

“See you on Friday Rindy. Take care ok? Mommy will call you every day, like always.” Carol kissed her daughter on the lips. “Now go upstairs to your room and unpack some of your toys. Daddy and I have to talk. I love you.”

“I love you too mommy.” Rindy hugged her mother and kissed her again on the lips.

“Harge? Let’s talk.”

“Sure, Carol. But first of all how’s your therapy going?” He casually asked as he tried to fix his necktie.

“Nothing unusual. Georgina’s such a great psychotherapist. She never disappoints. So,” Carol continued. “Rindy told me you aren’t going to her musical play. And why is that?”

Harge cleared his throat. “Listen, I tried to free up my schedule but you know how much of a headache Coca-Cola can be as a client. I have to fly to their headquarters in Atlanta that week, I have no choice. I called my mother and-“

“Harge,” Carol immediately cut him off while breathing deeply. “this is not how a joint custody works! Shouldn’t you have called me first if you can’t make it? Why your mother?” She groaned in frustration.

“I was just concerned about you, please relax. I don’t want Rindy to hear us arguing.” Harge said in the nicest and calmest way possible. “You told me you already had plans for your business that day but I didn’t want you to cancel those important plans of yours so I volunteered to watch Rindy’s play in lieu of your absence. I still don’t want you to cancel on your agenda so I called my mother for help. I’m sorry.”

“I could’ve cancelled those plans for Rindy in the first place. Heck, I would even watch the play together with you, but you insisted that you can do it by yourself. Yeah, I have a very important meeting on that date but I wouldn’t want to miss my daughter’s play for the world.” She stated. “You know what? I’ll cancel all those plans now. I’m going to Rindy’s play. Tell your mother she doesn’t need to come.”

“But I know how important that meeting is to you.”

“I don’t care, Harge. I’d do everything and anything if it’s for Rindy.” Carol said with conviction. She knew about Harge’s nice intentions, but still, for her it was wrong that Harge did not inform her about the issue.

“I’m sorry. You can take Rindy at your place for the whole week next next week while I’m gone. I’ll tell my mother to just forget about it.”

“I’m grateful for your good intentions Harge, but I am Rindy’s mother and we should work things out together. If this happens again you best believe I’m taking matters seriously and legally. You don’t want that to happen, don’t you?” Threatened Carol.

“I’m sorry.” Harge repeated sincerely.

Carol rolled her eyes. “You still don’t know how to fix your tie properly. If you ever happen to find a new wife, please make sure she knows her way around neckties.” She lightly joked as she fixed Harge’s necktie.

Harge smiled. “Thanks, Carol.”

 

After dropping off her daughter to her ex-husband’s, Carol quickly made her way to her warehouse. Her current job as the CEO of her business has been much more lenient as compared to her work when she was still the Executive Vice President of Aird Global. It was a complete shift of career but she and Harge have been on this side hustle for years, so she definitely knows the drill with this kind of business.

Advertising was her first love. She first started out her career in the field of advertising as a copywriter, to an account executive, and to an account senior, until she and Harge decided to establish their own advertising agency, which has then evolved and grew as one of the best advertising agencies in the world. Aird Global is known to have executed the best advertising campaigns for Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble, Ford Motor, Hewlett-Packard, and several other big corporations. Carol’s love for advertising is because of her love for art and business. To her, art is just art, but advertising is a combination of art and strategy. She loved the idea of brainstorming ideas to make the most creative and amazing campaign materials because it was her passion but she also loved the idea of making money off of it because she grew up to be business-minded, just like Harge.

Sometimes, Carol couldn’t help but miss the corporate life, but she knew she had to let go of it if she were to let go of Harge. Despite her love for that career, that kind of work really gave her such a huge burnout. Carol felt a huge weight off her shoulders after she resigned from Aird Global a year ago and she took that as a sign to start anew.

 

By 2 pm Carol received a text from Therese.

THERESE: Hey, Carol. Are you still going to meet me at 5 pm later?

CAROL: Hi. Of course I will. I’m still busy signing papers at work but I definitely won’t be late.

THERESE; Ok. See you.

CAROL: See you.

* * *

 

Therese arrived at Danziger Gallery early that day after doing quick work to return the key holder to Suzanne, but before she could reach Suzanne, she saw a familiar face in the gallery. _Genevieve’s girlfriend._

 “Therese! Hello. It’s nice to meet you again. I am so glad you’re here. I was just looking for you. I’m Genevieve’s girlfriend, Abby. You might’ve probably forgotten.” Abby greeted Therese as she smiled.

“I haven’t forgotten you at all! It’s nice to see you, Abby. What brings you here?” Therese was confused by the sudden visit of Abby.

“I was just talking to the gallery staff earlier because I lost my key holder, but then she told me that you took it from her so you could find who it belonged to by checking out your guestlist.”

“Oh yeah, I actually have it here. I didn’t get to figure out who it’s from.” Therese searched for her the key holder in her bag. “Here.”

“Thank you so much Therese! I looked everywhere for the goddamn key holder. I would’ve gone crazy if I didn’t get to find this.”

“No problem. Send my regards to Gen.”

“I will, I will.” Abby finally bid her farewell.

Therese was confused. _Why does she have a key hold with the initials C.R. engraved on it?_ She thought of asking Carol about it during their dinner but decided to go against the idea because she knew she wasn’t in a position to ask such question.

* * *

 

Shortly after Abby left, Therese decided to go to the nearest Starbucks since it was still too early to meet Carol. About half an hour later, she received a phone call from the woman.

“You have such a sweet tooth just like my daughter. Do you think you’d still have enough space in your stomach for dinner later?”

Therese slightly opened her mouth in shock. She looked around to find Carol by the entrance smiling gently at her. She quickly ended the call as Carol approached her and took a seat on the opposite end of Therese’s. [She was wearing a black long dress with floral patterns on it and a pair of doll shoes](https://imgur.com/a/Ny54F8R), while [Therese was wearing a red dress and pair of black ankle-length boots](https://imgur.com/a/Y1EmmiT).

“Carol, what are you doing here?”

“I saw you through the glass window so I made my way in after watching you eat your doughnut and drink your Frappuccino.

“How long have you been watching me?”

“Three minutes? Not that long.” Carol was still smiling.

Therese coughed accidentally, but mainly it was due to embarrassment. “Would you like me to get you a drink?” she asked just so she’d have an excuse to change the subject.

“Don’t bother. I don’t want anything. Are you done?”

“Almost.”

“I have a favor to ask.” Carol leaned forward and rested her elbows on the table as she clasped her hands. “Would you help me find a good camera before we head off to dinner? That’ll help you digest your doughnut too.”

Therese looked at the woman with a dimpled smile. “Are you finally getting into photography?”

“I just want to try it, thanks to you. I’ve done only a little bit of research about photography and I’ve decided that I would much rather get a DSLR than a mirrorless camera.”

“Mirrorless cameras are great because they’re lightweight but if you want to get into serious photography, I wouldn’t advise you to get that. It doesn’t perform well on low light too.”

“Exactly.”

“What do you plan to take pictures of? I mean.. do you have like a certain subject that you want to focus on capturing?”

“My daughter, mostly. In general, I’d like to take portraits. Just like you do.”

Therese blushed. “How much would your budget be?”

“I don’t know how much cameras cost these days. Back when I was still in the corporate world we had hundred thousands of dollars’ worth of camera body and lenses. So I assume something cheaper than that?”

Therese giggled. “Yes, of course. I already have something in mind. How does a $650 budget for a camera sound for you?”

“That sounds good to me, I trust you. What about the lens?”

“Most cameras already come with an 18-55mm kit lens in them, but you said you wanted to get into portrait photography. Hmm.” Therese paused for a few seconds. “I have a spare 50mm prime lens at my studio. I can give you that if you like. Once you get the hang of it you can try to buy new lenses then.”

“I’ll pay for it.”

“You don’t have to. I never use it anyway.” Therese was more than eager and happy to give Carol her lens. She only met the woman a few days ago, but somehow, she has never felt like a stranger to her, and that warmed Therese’s heart. “I won’t take no for an answer.”

“I owe you a lot, Therese. Should we get going?”

Therese and Carol hailed a cab to the 9th Avenue since Therese didn’t bring her car and Carol didn’t feel like driving again. Therese gave Carol a little introduction about cameras while they were on the store so she could choose between Therese’s two recommendations: the Nikon D5600 and the Nikon D3500, both of which are cameras with great specs, moreover, the former has a flip screen while the latter doesn’t have one. In the end Carol decided to go for the [Nikon D5600](https://imgur.com/a/PDfjZZm) and Therese knew that she made a great decision.

 “Thank you, Therese.” Carol slid her hand onto Therese’s upper back as part of her thankful gesture.

Therese stood frozen and surprised. “Don’t mention it.”

For dinner, Carol and Therese hailed another cab on the way to Le Veau d’Or, a French bistro at E 60th St., just a couple of minutes away from Madison Avenue where Carol parked her vehicle.

“I’m starving.” Said Carol as she checked the restaurant’s menu.

“Me too.”

Carol’s eyebrows furrowed. “Really? At least you had a doughnut for a snack. I haven’t had anything since breakfast.”

“How come?” Therese asked, sounding concerned.

“Sometimes I forget to eat lunch when I’m alone at my office.”

Therese saw Carol fake a smile. “I see.”

The two of them ordered the same dish which is a [roast rack of lamb](https://imgur.com/a/u2D1AbS).

“This is delicious.” Stated Carol after tasting her slice of lamb.

“Indeed, it is.”

Carol suddenly took notice of Therese’s wrist. It had a bracelet that she was highly familiar of; a [yellow gold love bracelet with four diamonds from Cartier](https://imgur.com/a/nUNlTrV). She knew very well that that exact kind of bracelet costs over $10,000.

“You have a nice bracelet.” Carol pointed out to Therese.

Therese made an attempt to remove her hand off the table but stopped half-way because she realized that would be rude. She smiled shyly instead. “Thank you.”

“From your boyfriend?”

“I don’t have a boyfriend.”

“From your ex, then.”

“No. Just by someone.” Therese answered as she swallowed her food.

“I would have assumed you bought it for yourself the moment you said it wasn’t from your ex.”

“I can barely even afford my photography equipment.” Therese joked.

Not wanting their conversation to end, Carol took the initiative to talk about something else. “Gen told me that you went to CCA on a scholarship. I wouldn’t be surprised. You’re amazing.”

“Yeah, but they don’t give out full scholarships. I just finished paying off my student loans actually.”

Carol’s eyes widened a bit in shock upon finding out that Therese didn’t get a full scholarship. “Oh wow. Knowing how expensive the tuition at CCA is, you must be very happy that you finally paid off all your loans.”

“I’m extremely happy.” Therese said with a broad smile.

They were midway into finishing their meal when Therese spoke again.

“What do you do for a living, Carol? If you don’t mind me asking..”

“Right now I own several businesses.” She wiped her mouth with a napkin and continued. “It only used to be a side business that my ex-husband and I got into but he fully gave it to me now as part of the alimony. Back then I used to work in advertising with him too. I also—” Carol took a pause, realizing that she might be oversharing things. “Oh, sorry, I don’t want to bore you out too much.”

“No, continue.”

“Alright. Well… I invest on some other businesses too, along with stocks. That’s it.”

“I’ve never thought of dipping my feet into the stock market.”

“It’s risky, but it’s also fun. I’ve been doing it for over ten years.”

“What sort of businesses do you have?”

“I own an ambulance and non-emergency medical transport company, trucking company, limousine service, and taxis.”

Therese gawked at Carol in amazement. “Wow. That’s a lot. For sure you must be very busy, then?”

“Not really. I just always need to talk to the managers or the CFO, sign documents, and attend meetings every now and then. That’s all. I have my right-hand man to do everything else for me. By the way, remember those two cabs we hailed earlier?”

“Were they yours?”

“Mhm.”

“Oh, wow.” Therese was almost speechless.

“It’s nothing fancy, I swear. I used to earn a lot more in the corporate world. But at least I invest on other businesses so that’s another form of extra income, which is nice.”

Therese nodded her head.

“Enough about me. Before I forget, where are the negatives that you promised to give me?”

“I almost forgot! Let me ju-” Therese was already about to open her bag when Carol interrupted her.

“Don’t rush. Let’s eat our dinner first.”

They later finished their dinner in silence, and when the bill arrived, the two of them almost fought over who was going pay for dinner.

“I owe you, Therese. You helped me get a camera that would best suit my needs so this is my treat. You don’t have to treat me just because I bought your photograph.” Not giving Therese a chance, Carol immediately placed $160 on the table.

“Guess I don’t have a choice. Thank you, Carol. Here are the negatives.” She pulled out a small zippered mesh pouch from her bag and opened it to get the negatives out as well as China’s original photo. “These are all yours.”

“Thanks, darling.” Carol held the negatives in her hand, trying to figure out how to take a peek through it. “I don’t want to print them out yet. Is there any way I can see them without a light box?”

“I have an app on my phone for that.”

“You didn’t tell me that you were also a girl scout who always comes prepared.” Carol winked.

Therese’s heart melted at the sight of Carol winking and she giggled. She put down her phone on the table and moved it closer to Carol. “Place the negatives below my phone’s camera.”

Carol tried to do as she was told but ended messing it up anyway.

“No, not like that.” Therese stood from her seat and leaned very close in front of Carol. Carol looked up and their eyes met for a few seconds.

“Ahem. Excuse me.” Therese coughed and looked down to where her phone is. “You.. place it.. here.” She positioned her phone correctly on top of the negatives, gently brushing into Carol’s fingers a few times. Even if it were just a few strokes, Therese felt Carol’s fingers to be soft and delicate, like she’s never done a household chore in her life.

“You can look at it now.” Said Therese as she leaned back to take a seat. She looked at Carol only to find out that the woman was still staring at her. It made her hold her breath out of the nervousness.

“Alright.” Carol finally broke her gaze. “These are beautiful, Therese.” She smiled and kept looking at the negatives for what seemed like forever. She was amused at the skills of the younger woman in front of her. “I can relate to her. Your model, I mean.”

“Me too.” Said Therese.

“Did you love him?” Carol looked at Therese seriously.

“I did. So much. Sometimes it hurts to be loyal.” Therese’s voice cracked as she said her last sentence.

“I’m sorry, darling. I shouldn’t have asked.”

Therese shook her head. “No, it’s okay. What about you though? Did you love him?”

“Yes of course. But not as much as you loved yours I guess. I can relate to the woman in your photo. She’s empty, hurt, and she’s longing for someone. I’ve always longed to be loved.”

 _How can someone not love Carol?_ Therese took a glance at Carol. In her eyes, Carol is the epitome of perfection, but despite looking perfect, she still felt her sadness deep inside. In front of her was a vulnerable woman, disguised as strong by wearing expensive clothes and makeup, and by putting on a fake smile. Therese could no longer think of any other words to say, so she once again repeated her own words.

“Me too.”

“This is getting too emotional. Let’s cheer up now. Should we get going?”

Therese looked at her phone to check the time. “Yeah, it’s getting pretty late.”

“You don’t have a car right?”

“I do, I just didn’t drive today.”

“I’ll take you home.”

“You don’t have to, I can just take the sub-.”

“Don’t be silly. I’ll drive you home.” Carol grabbed Therese’s wrist as headed out of the restaurant. She immediately let go upon exiting the establishment. They started to walk back to Madison Avenue slowly.

“Where do you live?”

“Lower East Side.”

“Really? Perfect. That’s not too far from where I live.”

“Where are you from?” Therese asked Carol even though she already knew the answer.

“I have an apartment in SoHo.”

“I see, that’s cool.”

They walked in silence until they reached Carol’s car. It was a [silver metallic Audi A7 Sportback](https://imgur.com/a/0XjiriA). Therese wasn’t surprised by the car Carol had. She already expected that Carol drove a nice car since she even owned four car-related businesses. If she was being honest though, she even expected Carol’s car to be way more expensive than an Audi A7, but the aforementioned vehicle still didn’t disappoint.

“Why didn’t you use your car today?” Carol asked while she kept her hands focused on the steering wheel.

“I don’t feel like driving sometimes. Today I totally forgot that my friend warned me to take the car from now on but I still took the subway.”

“What happened?”

“You know, just the usual cat-calling and molesting stuff that crazy perverts do. It happened a few weeks ago.”

“Oh god. That’s terrible. I hope you’re okay.”

“For a few days, I wasn’t. But now I think I’ve fully recovered.”

“Still, you should be careful.” Therese could hear the concern in Carol’s voice.

“You too.”

Carol looked at Therese and smiled.

“How busy does your life get as a photographer?”

“I work as a freelance photographer so it depends on the amount of clients that I have. I always get to decide on the photo shoot schedule, except of course for high-paying clients. Sometimes my shoots wrap up rather quickly so I get to go home early. I only limit my shoots to around three to four a week and I’m already fully booked for the next two months.”

Carol nodded. 

Their conversation went on until it was time for Therese to get off the car.

“Thanks for driving me home, Carol.”

“You’re welcome. Will I ever see you again?”

The question made Therese’s heart skip a beat, but it made her happy too. She wanted to see Carol again, to know her more and to be her friend. She felt a sense of happiness in Carol’s presence.

“Only if you want to. Or do you want me to just ship you the camera lens?”

“No. I want to see you again.” Carol’s mouth curved into a smile.

Therese was glad it was already night time. If they were in broad daylight she could’ve sworn that Carol would see the obvious blush on her cheeks.

“Well then. I’ll see you soon.”

“I’ll call you. Thanks for tonight, Therese.”

“Thanks, Carol. Take care on your way home.”  Therese got out of the car and Carol started to drive. She watched the car as it faded away from her line of sight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this chapter wasn't too boring. What are your thoughts? Your comments will definitely make my day up.


	6. Waiting For Your Call

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone. It's been a really busy week so I'm sorry if I haven't been able to update this story quickly. Are you guys still with me? I hope you are!

Tuesday and Wednesday were busy days for Therese. She was out all day with her assistant to do photo shoots. There are days when some shoots just get draggy for her while some are fun and quick. Unfortunately, the past two days have been really boring for her and the only thing that she was looking forward to do was meeting her friend Genevieve on Wednesday evening and getting a call from Carol. Carol has yet to call her despite the promise that she would do so last Monday, and the wait has been killing Therese. The long and tedious shoots certainly didn’t help Therese to divert her attention from Carol because every once in awhile when the shoot is on standby, her train of thought would wander off and she would think about the older woman. It was a weird feeling for her, but she didn’t mind it at the very least. It was the first time that she ever adored someone of the same sex. The feeling was indescribable and when she thought that she might have a girl crush on Carol, she just shrugged it off.

By 8 pm Therese was already running ten minutes late into meeting Genevieve. The two of them have decided to have dinner and get a drink at O’Hara’s, a restaurant slash pub in Lower Manhattan.

“Genevieve! I’m so sorry to keep you waiting. I had to drop off my car back to my place and then I rode an Uber on the way here. The traffic’s intense.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Genevieve gave Therese a quick hug. “What’s with the look? You seem super stressed.” Genevieve looked at Therese from head to toe and gave her a quizzical smile. She was just wearing a plain white shirt, black jeans, and low top Converse shoes. Her hair was also tied in a messy bun, but it didn’t appear like Therese gave a damn about how she looked.

“You don’t need to point out that I look like shit right now, Gen! I wear shorts, jeans, or leggings for work because they’re comfortable and I didn’t bother to change after my shoot earlier so… yeah.” Therese wailed.

“I was just kidding, I know. I look shittier than you when I’m doing field work.”

“Come to think of it, I’ve never seen you with a hard hat on.”

They both cracked up.

Therese ordered a [Philly Cheese Steak Wrap](https://imgur.com/a/f4DXnMn) while Genevieve ordered a [Grilled Chicken BLT](https://imgur.com/a/pzXECKc) for dinner. For their drinks, the two of them decided to get a cold pint of Guinness, a dark beer that originated from Ireland. They talked about random stuff while eating dinner. After eating, they decided to try out another Irish beer called the Smithwick’s.

“Abby told me that you met her on your gallery last Monday.”

“She did. She lost her key holder and went back to the gallery. It was a good thing that we stumbled upon each other because I had the key holder with me and not with the gallery staff.”

“Yeah, and she said you were very nice.”

“She is, too. How long have you two been together?”

“Six months. Not that long, I know. She was a client of the architectural firm that I’m taking an internship at.”

“That’s pretty cool. Are you and Carol close?” Therese asked in a curious tone. She wanted to know more about Carol.

“Not very close. We’re good friends. Speaking of, Abby mentioned that Carol bought one of your photos? The most expensive one?”

Therese nodded.

“I’m so glad I brought them to your exhibit.” She gave out a broad grin.

“Thank you, Gen.” Therese was thankful not only because someone bought her most expensive piece in the exhibit, but she was more thankful of the fact that she met Carol through Genevieve. “We met again last Monday.”

“Wait, how?!! Tell me more!”

“I felt kind of guilty the moment I found out that someone bought that expensive piece. I don’t think it was worth its price because it’s just too pricey, so I contacted her and offered to give her the negatives of some of the photos that I took during that shoot. I invited her for dinner too, but she ended up paying for it in the end.” Therese said.

“Carol is a businesswoman, Therese. It’s either she fell in love with your photo the first time she saw it or she thinks it’s a good investment since you’re a rising star or both.” Genevieve said while sipping on her beer.

Her answer gave Therese some thoughts to ponder. “You may be right.”

“Since we’re talking about Carol already…” Genevieve paused, her expression alone was enough for Therese to figure out that she’s having second thoughts whether to tell Therese whatever she was going to say or not. “Why don’t you come with us to New Jersey on Saturday? Are you free?”

“What for?” Therese cocked her head in curiosity.

“It’s Carol’s birthday. We’re having a small party for her. Just me, Abby, Carol, and her daughter Rindy. We’re surprising her that day too. The key holder that you found is actually Abby’s gift to Carol.”

Therese gave a sigh of relief upon finding out the truth about the key holder. _So it really is Carol’s. She just doesn’t know yet._ The thought of celebrating Carol’s birthday gave her a feeling of excitement and just when she was about to say yes to Genevieve’s offer, it hit her that Carol and Abby probably would not like her presence if she were to celebrate with them since they’re not friends with her.

“Don’t worry about it. Abby likes you a lot. I sang her praises about you.” She winked, giving Therese the reassurance. “As for Carol, I think she would like it if you were to celebrate with us. After all, she did say that it would be very boring if it’s only the four of us who’s celebrating.”

“Okay, I’ll come.” She smiled and blushed.

“Don’t tell Carol that you’re going. Abby and I are going to keep it a secret too, I’ll tell her later.”

“Sure.” Therese pursed her lips.

“Do you want me to pick you up at your apartment by Saturday morning? Or if you want you can also drive by yourself and I’ll send you the address.”

“Are you driving with Abby?”

“No. I’ll be going to New Jersey by myself.”

“Take me with you, then.”

“Such a baby.” Genevieve smirked.

“Do I need to bring anything?”

“Just yourself is all. But wait, do you have a balloon pump?”

“I might have one at the studio. I can bring it if you want.”

“Please do. Or else we’ll be blowing balloons using our mouths all day.” Genevieve said, trying to make Therese laugh, which was successful.

Therese was already on her fourth pint of beer and Genevieve on her third when they finally decided to bid their goodbyes.

“Where are you headed off after this?” Genevieve questioned.

“Dannie’s girlfriend Steph will pick me up in awhile over here. She invited me to sleep at her place.”

“So that explains the bulky backpack. I’m heading off now, T. Take care and see you on Saturday!” Genevieve gestured a hug to her friend.

“Take care, Gen. Thanks for tonight.”

 

“Steph, can you tell Dannie to hook me up with his friend who’s a leatherworker? I’m pretty sure he told me one time that he got a customized leather wallet from that friend of his. It’s kind of urgent.” Therese told Steph. The two of them were lying in Steph’s bed.

“I can chat him now. What’s with the urgency?” Steph replied to Therese but didn’t bother to look at her. She has been fidgeting on her phone nonstop since she laid on the bed.

“I need it for a birthday party that I’ll attend to on Saturday.”

“Mhm. He said you can just tell him the what you need. Go and message him.” Steph showed her conversation with Dannie on the phone to Therese.

Therese discussed with Dannie what she wanted to get customized. Apparently, she is to receive her customized order by Friday, which gives her enough time to wrap up her present for Carol.

DANNIE: I can’t believe you two are friends already.

THERESE: Shut up. We aren’t. It’s Gen who invited me. I don’t even know if Carol would like me to be there but I already said yes to Gen.

DANNIE: So where in New Jersey are you heading off to this Saturday?

THERESE: Far Hills.

DANNIE: WOAH! That woman has a lot of money.

THERESE: You properly told your friend the details of what I want to get customized right?

DANNIE: Yep. He’ll have it delivered to your studio by Friday.

THERESE: You’re the best.

DANNIE: Tell Steph to stop watching YouTube on her phone. You two get some sleep. Good night.

 

By Thursday, Therese has finally given up the thought of Carol calling her. She realized that Carol probably said that just to act polite, or that she may have been busy the whole week. She did get one last text message from her last Monday night though, but it was just a _“I’m home. Thanks for today. Good night.”_ text. She was debating whether to call Carol so she can give her extra spare of lens that was also just given to her by an acquaintance, since she has never really gotten around to use it. In the end she decided that she’s going to give it on Saturday instead.

Therese didn’t have much to do that day for work, and that gave her the chance to clock out early and by 2 pm she was already at her exhibit. Nearly all her photographs have been sold, as per Suzanne. To them it’s great news, but Therese felt a sudden sharp feeling of emotional distress because she still was not ready to let go of her photographs.

Just when she was about to exit the gallery to take a break, Therese saw her parents entering the gallery.

“Terry!” Therese’s mother ran to her and hugged her tight.

“Mom. I missed you so much. Why didn’t you call me?” Therese hugged her mother back while she smiled at her father.

“Dad and I wanted to surprise you. We are so proud of you honey.”

“I’m very proud of you Terry. Come and give me a hug.” Therese’s father opened his arms wide.

Therese went closer to her father and tiptoed to kiss him on the cheek and hug him. “Missed you, dad. Sorry if I haven’t visited you two for so long.”

“It’s okay, darling. How have you been?” Said Therese’s father.

“Everything’s going well, I’ve been put into so much pressure these past few weeks but I’m getting better now. Plus, the exhibit has been such a great hit.”

“I’ve always believed in you, Terry.” Her father smiled at her. “Can we look around? Are there many people?”

“Well.. let me check.” Therese roamed around the gallery and then went back to her parents. “There’s no one around. You can check the whole gallery. I’ll just buy some coffee for the two of you.”

Still feeling surprised and nervous with her parents’ sudden visit, Therese quickly headed off to the nearest Starbucks to order coffee for her parents and a Frappuccino for herself.

 “Honey, these photos are wonderful. I wish I could buy even at least one of them.” Therese’s mom exclaimed.

“Mom, don’t be silly! I always send you photographs whenever I travel right? Aren’t those enough?” Therese gave her mother a loving hug once again. “By the way, I really want to treat the two of you out for dinner but it’s hard to get a reservation at the best restaurants here by this time. How about you come to my place and I’ll cook for you?”

“That sounds even better. We have high expectations for dinner tonight.” Therese’s dad winked and took a sip of his coffee.

Therese loved her parents dearly, even though she was often misunderstood by other people. She cannot stress it enough, but she doesn’t like it when her family members meddle into her personal matters. This is a fact that her parents have learned to understand and live by ever since their daughter set foot in high school. She still listened and obeyed her parents, most especially with affairs that she didn’t have enough power to solely handle, but she does most things at her own will. Despite living life independently, Therese has never acted as a rebel towards herself and her family and she has only ever done good things and decisions in life. This is the exact reason why her parents have always been supportive to her.

The three of them hopped over Therese’s car and when they arrived at her apartment, Therese immediately went straight to the kitchen while her parents wandered around in her one-bedroom unit.

“Do you like it here, Therese?” Asked her father.

“I love it here. It’s small, but it’s nice and I can afford it.”

“If you want a bigger one mom and I can always try to he-“

“I really appreciate the gesture, but you don’t have to, dad.” Said Therese as she washed the broccoli on the sink.

Her father nodded. “If you say so.”

“What are you gonna’ cook for us today, honey? I’ll help you out.” Therese’s mom scooted over her daughter’s kitchen counter and helped prepare their dinner.

While cooking, Therese smiled and gave herself an imaginary pat on the back, grateful that she went grocery shopping a few days ago. Not having anything in the fridge could’ve been a recipe for disaster, she imagined. It’s not a hidden fact-even though she has always constantly denied it- that Therese is great at cooking. Her family and friends have always admired her cooking skills. It’s nowhere near at a professional level but it’s decent than average.

Therese opted for easy meals to cook—[beef broccoli](https://imgur.com/a/jcDwEbl),[ pan-fried tofu](https://imgur.com/a/69HEony), and brown rice.

“This is great. Even your mom can’t do this.” Therese’s dad told her as he took a bite of the beef broccoli and tofu.

“Oh shut up, dad.” Said Therese’s mom while frowning.

They all laughed in unison.

The mood suddenly shifted to being serious when Therese’s dad asked her if she was still going to church.

“Work sometimes gets in the way so no.” Therese lied. She has never gone to church ever since her breakup with Richard. Richard lived in New York City as well, and going to church would heighten up her chances of seeing him, which she didn’t want to happen even if she has already moved on from him and their previous relationship. She’s also lost her interest from doing religious practices as years went by but unfortunately for her, that’s not something she could openly discuss and admit to her parents, since they are devout Catholics.

After their long hours of dinner and chit-chat, Therese’s parents finally bid their goodbyes to her. It was a tiring day for Therese but nonetheless, it was also eventful. Her father works in New Jersey, but they haven’t seen each other for so long because of their busy schedules. After her parents left her apartment, she suddenly thought of giving her parents a surprise visit at New Jersey after Carol’s birthday party but just decided against it, thinking that it would be better to just visit some other time so she could stay with them longer and without any rush.

Therese was already on her bed by 9:30 in the evening when her phone suddenly rang. When she saw who the call was from, her heart almost skipped a beat. _It’s from Carol_. She wondered for a few seconds as to why she was calling. Afraid that the call would be left unanswered, she decided to press Accept on her screen despite feeling nervous.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Therese. I hope it’s not too late to call. Sorry if I didn’t text you beforehand.” Carol’s voice was so soft that Therese couldn’t almost hear her speak.

“No, it’s alright. I’m just in bed right now. What’s up?”

“Nothing much. I actually wanted to ask you for a favor.” There was a long pause on the line before Carol continued. “Can you come to my birthday celebration on Saturday?”

Therese suddenly smirked, but she immediately remembered that Genevieve has already invited her out too. She didn’t know if getting Carol pranked would be a great decision, but she did it anyway.

“It’s your birthday on Saturday? Let me check my schedule. What time is the birthday celebration going to be held and where?” Therese was smiling widely, pretending to look at her nonexistent calendar while she was on the phone with Carol.

“Around lunch time until dinner and it’s going to be in New Jersey. It’s not really a party but Abby and Genevieve will be there. And my daughter too. It’s okay if you can’t come.”

Carol’s voice still sounded very soft, as if she had been sad or upset about something prior to calling her. That made Therese suddenly feel very bad about lying, but she didn’t want to ruin the surprise.

“I’m sorry, Carol. I don’t think I can come. I have plans with my best friend that day.  But still, I wish you a happy birthday.”

“Is that so?” Therese could hear the hint of sadness in her voice. “Thank you for the advance greeting. I guess I’ll see you some other time, then. How have you been doing these past few days?”

“Just work and the exhibit. Nearly everything has already been sold in the gallery. You? I hope you’re not sick or anything, Carol. You sound different.”

“I’m okay. Just been busy with work is all.” Carol sighed.

Therese felt as if Carol wasn’t really telling the truth, and at that moment she hoped that she was talking to her face to face instead so she could console her.

 “Have you been practicing on using your new camera?”

“Oh! Yes. I went to my ex-husband’s company—I mean at my former office to ask the creatives department for a bit of help. I didn’t really want to bother you again. I’ve taken pictures of Rindy too. Do you want to see them?”

“I’m glad you already know how to use your camera. If you need more help I’m just one message or call away. I’d be more than glad to help. Will it be ok for me to see her photos?”

“Of course. I’ll send it later.”

“By the way, Carol, I did promise to give you the extra lens that I have should you need it. I can just send it to your place right?” Therese was back at playing pretend. She was actually going to give the lens as one of her gifts for Carol’s birthday on Saturday.

“Or we can just meet each other. I don’t mind. It’s getting late, good night, Therese.”

“Sure, and yeah, it is.” Therese couldn’t hide her disappointment when she realized that Carol’s already about to end their call. “Good night, Carol.”

Suddenly the line went silent for about half a minute, until Carol spoke.

“You hang up.”

“No, you hang up.”

“You.” Carol manage to stifle a laugh. That made Therese smile.

“It seems like none of us wants to hang up. You can do it.”

“Okay, fine. I’ll see you some other time, Therese. Thanks.”

“See you.” Therese was all smiles on the other end, then Carol hung up.

After the call, Therese immediately texted Genevieve, who in return texted her back and discussed the sudden prank that they now have to pull off together with Abby. It wasn’t their initial plan to prank Carol but they weren’t expecting Carol to invite Therese by herself so now they have to do some bluffing and there’s no way out.

Just when she was already about to sleep, she received a message from Carol, along with two photos of Rindy. She smiled and looked closer at the photos.

CAROL: Here’s my daughter, Rindy. Sleep well, Therese.

THERESE: She’s beautiful just like you. I love the pictures. Thanks Carol. Good night. X.

Come Friday, Therese arrived at her studio early, eagerly excited to receive the customized gift that she ordered for Carol. Since she had nothing much to do at work, she decided to put her other gift-which is a Nikkor 50mm 1.8d prime lens-into a white box that’s bigger than the lens’ box and tied it with a ribbon. She also put out a handwritten _“Happy Birthday, Carol”_ note on top of it.

By lunch time she received a parcel containing her customized present for Carol. When she opened the parcel, she gasped upon seeing how beautiful it was. She then decided to transfer it into a different plain box and to make the present extra special, she used a Furoshiki cloth and wrapped the box [Japanese-style](https://imgur.com/a/6ihxcSQ).

The rest of the day went by rather quickly, and before she knew it, it was already night time and she was already on her bed, texting Genevieve once again.

GENEVIEVE: I’ll pick you up at eight. It’s going to be fun even if it’s just the five of us, I promise you.😉

THERESE: I hope so! See you, Gen. xx       

GENEVIEVE: See you!  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was only supposed to be a very short chapter without any interaction from Carol and Therese, but still I managed to squeeze in a bit of interaction between the two of them somehow. I don't want you all to feel upset. Please tell me what you think. Comment if you can so I know if anyone's still reading. 
> 
> Lots of love from snowbearr!


	7. Carol's Birthday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slow-paced chapter, but I did categorize this fanfic as a fluff. There's also lots of scrumptious food mentioned here, please check the photos/links out if you can. Have fun reading.

To Therese’s surprise, Genevieve arrived at her apartment so early that she hasn’t even had the time to eat breakfast and take a shower yet.

“Gen, it’s only seven. I thought you were gonna’ pick me up at eight?” asked Therese before taking a bite of her hash brown.

“Peace.” Genevieve gave Therese a mocking smile and gave her a peace sign then continued to blow up some of the balloons that she brought using Therese’s pump.

Therese just rolled her eyes in annoyance.

“How do you like the idea of me knocking on Carol’s door first then you show up at around ten minutes or so to surprise her? Or we can switch it up.”

“I don’t wanna’ go first. I guess I’ll just wait in the car or something.”

“Good. Abby stayed at Carol’s house alone last night, and apparently Carol and Rindy just got there so she and Abby can cook lunch early. Abby’s pretty nervous though.”

“Why?”

“She got the help of one of Carol’s neighbors to hide her gift.”

The two of them grinned at each other.

* * *

 

“Abby?” Carol shouted from living room as she entered her house.

“Wait up!” Abby shouted as she was rushing to go down the stairs.

“There you are.”

 Rindy ran to Abby and gave her a hug.

“Hi, Rindy. I’ve missed you!” Abby hugged the little girl back and played with her hair.

“I’ve missed you too, Aunt Abby.” The little girl said and ran over to the living room to play with her toys.

“Happy birthday, Carol.” Abby walked over to where Carol was standing to give her a kiss on the cheek and a long hug.

“You know how sensitive I get over little things, Abby. Stop hugging me or you’ll make me cry.”

“Ok. Fine. Can’t I at least get a ‘thank you’?” Abby groaned.

Carol put one of her arms on Abby’s shoulder. “I can’t thank you enough. Love you, Abby. So when is Gen coming?”

“She’ll be here at around ten. You said Rindy wanted beignets right? Does she ever eat anything else that isn’t doughnut-like?” Abby shook her head.

“Blame Harge for that.”

 

It was already 10:30 in the morning when they heard the doorbell ring.

“I’ll get it!” Rindy shouted from the living room.

“Hi, Gen!!!” Said Rindy as she tiptoed for a hug.

“Hi, Rindy!” Replied Genevieve as she hugged the little girl back. “Do you like balloons? Here you go, you can play with them but don’t pop them alright?” Genevieve handed Rindy two huge bags full of small balloons. “Where’s your mommy and Aunt Abby?

“They’re in the kitchen.”

 

Genevieve went closer to the kitchen counter to greet Carol, who’s busy cutting onions. “Happy birthday, Carol!”

“Thanks, Gen. Wish I could hug you right now but my hands are full of onion extract.” Carol smiled.

“Oh, no worries.” Genevieve kissed her cheek-to-cheek instead. “You do know that I eat a lot right? I hope the two of you cooked a lot.”

“Don’t worry, babe. I know there’s only four of us in here but this is actually good for five.” Butted in Abby, who was busy cooking, but turned around to the two women and gave Genevieve a wink.

 

After over five minutes of talking, Genevieve excused herself and went to the bathroom. Carol and Abby were still busy in the kitchen when they heard the doorbell ring again.

“Who’s that?” Abby curiously asked Carol.

Carol raised her eyebrow. “I don’t know. I’m not expecting anyone else other than the two of you.” She wiped her hands on a towel and shouted at her daughter who’s still playing in the living room. “Rindy! Don’t open the door, we don’t know who that is. I’ll get it!”

“You have to remind me to get an intercom next time, Abby.” Remarked Carol before she went to her front door.

She opened the front door and looked at the person in front of her, surprised that it was Therese. She suddenly felt her heart beating fast and she almost couldn’t speak upon seeing the young woman.

“T-Therese? What? How?”

“Happy birthday, Carol!” Therese smiled bubbly.

“I’m not sure what’s happening.” Carol nervously smiled. For a moment she thought she was dreaming but then she heard Abby and Genevieve laughing loudly behind her back. “Sorry, Therese. I’m still in shock. What’s happening?” Carol did a face palm and shook her head.

“Maybe you should let her in first. Hi Therese!” Abby waved her hand to Therese.

“Oh yes. Please come in.”

Therese made her way inside the house. Carol gestured going towards the living room and Therese slowly examined the beautiful house as she walked around.

“This is my daughter, Rindy. Rindy, sweet pea, come here. I’d like you to meet Therese. She’s mommy’s good friend.”

“Hi, Rindy.” Therese was careful not to go overboard with greeting the little girl so as not to startle her.

“Hi.” quietly replied the little girl, who ran and hid behind her mother’s back.

“I’m sorry, she’s usually very shy towards new people. Tell Therese how old you are, Rindy.” Carol interrupted.

“I’m five.” Said Rindy more casually this time.

Therese smiled at the two of them. The little girl finally exposed herself from hiding. Therese immediately noticed how much Rindy and Carol looked alike. Their blonde curls matched perfectly along with their deep blue eyes. Rindy’s nose and lips were in contrast from Carol’s, but she suspected that the little girl could’ve gotten those features from her father’s genes.  

“She’s really cute and beautiful, Carol.” Therese finally locked her eyes to the woman in front of her, and her smile has yet to fade away.

“Thank you.” The tone in Carol’s voice manifested conviction, but not in a bragging way. She knew that her daughter was beautiful, and that is a fact that she highly took pride of. She would never think otherwise.

The four of them sat in the living room, with Genevieve on the large beanbag, Carol on the solo seater sofa, and Abby and Therese on the two-seater sofa. Rindy went back to her toys, looking like she didn’t want to be bothered.

“Can someone tell me what the hell is going on?” Blurted Carol.

“Relax, Carol.” Abby said nonchalantly. She took a moment to look at Genevieve and Therese and grinned before continuing. “You see, Gen and Therese met up a few days ago and Gen invited Therese to be here with us, and she immediately said yes. Then you came along…. Therese said you called her and invited her once again. She figured it’d be great to pull a prank on you so she just straight up told you that she couldn’t go.”

Carol groaned in defeat and laughed. “Therese! I didn’t perceive you to be quite the prankster!”

Therese smirked and shrugged. “Happy birthday again, Carol.”

The four of them went for a small talk for a couple of minutes, then Carol, Abby, and Genevieve returned to the kitchen to continue with the cooking.

“Suit yourself, darling. We’ll be having lunch in a few.” Carol said to Therese as she noticed the woman taking glances around the house while she was seated on the sofa.

“Can I walk around?”

“Of course.”

Carol’s house was big. It was a[ two-story colonial house](https://imgur.com/a/zSD1tqh) with a hint of modernity. The house was situated at Far Hills, one of New Jersey’s richest neighborhoods, but the inside of her home did not look lavish. Rather, it presented such a homey feeling to Therese. She wondered if the house was their family home before she and and her husband separated, or if Carol bought the house on her own.

“Do you draw?” Therese heard a soft little voice behind her. When she turned around, she saw Rindy carrying an iPad Pro that covered her entire face.

“Not as much. Do you want me to draw with you?”

“You draw, I’ll color.”

Therese stifled a laugh. “Sure.”

The two of them sat on the living room’s floor, facing the coffee table.

“What do you want me to draw?” Asked Therese who was busy clearing up the table full of children’s books.

“A flower.” Answered Rindy as she handed Therese the Apple Pencil. “You can draw on the side. I will draw mommy in the middle.”

Therese carefully drew a sunflower. She glanced at Rindy, whose eyes were fixated on her drawing. “Wow.” Whispered the little girl.

“You can color it now. Do you know what color a sunflower is?”

“Yellow?”

“Yes. And brown and green.”

“Ok!” Rindy drew in silence. There were many times that her blonde curls covered her face and she would blow it off, making Therese giggle from her cuteness. Therese decided to brush her fingers through Rindy’s hair and tucked some of it behind her ear.

“There.”

“Thanks!”

A couple of minutes later, Rindy showed Therese the neatly-colored sunflower and her stick figure drawing of Carol. She has also written the word “MOMMY” on the virtual canvas.

“You’re awesome! Are you going to show this to your mommy?”

“Yes. This is my gift for her.”

Therese gave her two thumbs up. “Awesome. She’ll love it.”

“I see two angels sitting on the floor.”

The two of them turned their heads to see Carol. Therese’s cheeks turned red upon hearing Carol call her and Rindy an angel, but she knew better that she’s probably sweet because of Rindy’s presence.

“Mommy!” Rindy excitedly went to her mother, carefully holding the iPad with her two hands. “Mommy look! This is my gift. And Therese drew this for you.”

“It looks beautiful, sweet pea. I love it. Thank you.” Carol looked at the drawing again and pressed ‘Save’ on the app, then she kissed her daughter’s temple. “Did you say that Therese drew the sunflower?”

“Yes.”

“She was the one who colored the flower so I shouldn’t get all the credit. Rindy’s done an amazing job.” She said shyly.

“I love it too, Therese. Thanks.” She winked at Therese. “Let’s have lunch now, shall we? Rin, mommy has to keep the iPad now. Gadget time is over. Follow me, Therese.”

Therese followed the two of them to the dining area.

“It smells amazing in here.” Therese unconsciously said what was on her mind loudly.  

The table was filled with scrumptious food that Therese excitedly wanted to devour. [Cheesy spinach lasagna, stuffed chicken breast with sun-dried tomatoes and feta, and a big bowl of fruit](https://imgur.com/a/PEpIJYh).

“Bon Appetit!” Abby remarkably said.

“Should we sing Carol a happy birthday?” Inquired Genevieve.

“Let’s save that for dinner.” Answered Carol.

The four of them were talking to each other, with Abby asking Therese questions about her work. It’s been awhile since Therese had homemade food made by someone else and eating with them made her feel as if she was at home. She felt very comfortable around them.

“Do you like the food?” Carol suddenly asked Therese.

“I love them all, especially the lasagna.” Therese said.

“I made the lasagna.” Carol smiled wildly. “Beat that, Abby.”

Abby just rolled her eyes in return.

After they were all finished with their meals, Abby stood up and told everyone that lunch wasn’t over yet because there was still dessert. She went to the kitchen and went back with a plate of [beignets](https://imgur.com/a/PFa2O5Z) covered in powdered sugar and with chocolate sauce on the side.

Rindy almost jumped out of her seat from the excitement.

Carol looked at Therese, who was obviously mesmerized at the plate of beignets in front of her. Carol knew that Therese would be excited for the dessert too because she remembered her eating a doughnut the last time they met. “We had to hide the dessert, or else Rindy wouldn’t eat her meal.” She told Therese, who finally looked at her.

“Ohh. Okay. I would have eaten the dessert first too.” Therese joked.

After dessert, the four women went back to the living room to drink wine and to eat the leftover fruit bowl from lunch. They talked about a lot of stuff, but it was mostly just Abby and Genevieve telling stories. Therese noticed that Carol wasn’t much of a talker, but she smiled a lot.

The whole afternoon was spent with the four of them having inconsequential conversations and some kitchen preparations for dinner.

Carol noticed Abby quietly fidgeting on her phone from time to time. She wanted to ask her why but just decided against it.

“So, ladies! It’s almost four, maybe we should hand over our presents to Carol. Let’s start with Gen because she seems to be the most excited.” Abby surprisingly announced.

“We all know you’re the one who’s the most excited but sure.” Gen sighed. She went to get a small orange box from her bag and gave it to Carol. “I hope you like it, Carol.”

“Thanks, Gen. I already know what’s inside but I can’t wait to see what it looks like.” She grinned at Genevieve and gave her a hug.

Carol opened the box and was delighted to see another scarf for her collection. It was a [Mountain Zebra Scarf 90](https://imgur.com/a/Bm9tuha) from Hermes.

Therese was quietly observing Carol. _Will she like my gift?_ Unpleasant thoughts kept dispersing into her head. Distracting her from her reverie, she felt a slight pat on her shoulder blade. She turned around and saw Abby looking at her.

“Are you okay?” Abby quietly asked Therese.

“I’m all good, thanks.”

“Abby! It’s your turn.” Genevieve quickly shouted.

“Okay ladies, I think we should all go outside.”

Before they all headed outside, Abby handed Carol a small box. Carol opened the box and saw one key in it.

“Are you serious, Abby?” Carol asked while gaping her jaw in shock.

“What’s that?” Therese whispered to Genevieve. She still hasn’t figured out what the key was for.

Genevieve whispered what Abby’s gift is to Therese’s ear.

“I have no idea what that is.”

“You’ll find out later. Come on.”

“You have no fucking clue how I had to embarrass myself to your neighbor yesterday just so they could hide my present, Carol.” Abby said while they were walking their way out of the house.

The five of them stepped outside and saw a beautiful [red Vespa GTS](https://imgur.com/a/rAooHuZ) in front of the garage.

“Oh my god, Abby.”

“Surprise, Carol.” Cheerfully said Abby.

Carol hugged her tight, almost crying. “Thank you, Abby. You know how much I wanted this. I love you, Abigail!” Carol kissed Abby on the cheek.

“Love you too. Your neighbor had to hide it at their place yesterday and drive it here earlier so you have to visit them sometime to give thanks.” Abby grabbed the key from Carol’s hand and opened the Vespa’s compartment. “Here’s the other key that your neighbor used. This is a duplicate.”

“I can’t believe you!” Carol’s eyes were gleaming and were almost in tears as she was examining the scooter.

After what seemed like half an hour of them checking out the scooter and Rindy begging her mother to be a passenger, which of course, Carol turned down, the five of them finally went back inside the house.

“You’re still not allowed to ride scooters, Rindy.” Therese squeezed the little girl’s hand. “I remember feeling the same way when I was young, but now as an adult I realized how dangerous it truly is for children to ride scooters.”

“Okay.” Rindy said, still pouting.

Carol saw the two of them and was amused for the second time to see Therese interacting sweetly with her daughter.

By the time Carol was about to look away, Therese caught Carol staring at her. Trying hard not to act guilty and anxious, Carol managed to put up a smile instead.

“Carol! I have something for you too.” Therese smiled back to Carol.

“You shouldn’t have bothered!” Carol was taken aback by what Therese said.

“Wow, you got Carol a gift too?” Abby raised her eyebrows and was smiling ear-to-ear at the two of them. She unknowingly pinched Genevieve’s arm due to her excitement.

“Yeah. It’s not much though.” Therese started walking towards the living room to get her bag and she slowly took out the two boxes in it. “Here you go. You already know what the other one is.”

Carol couldn’t stop herself from smiling as she was opening the boxes. The first box that she opened was a [Nikkor 50mm f/1.8G](https://imgur.com/a/mX2bOfe) lens that Therese promised her to give, while the second one was a [handmade customized leather camera strap](https://imgur.com/a/tCI8BIg) with the name “CAROL” engraved on it.

“I love these, Therese!”  Carol gave Therese an unexpected hug, which made Therese almost jump out. The hug was unusually long. “Thank you.” She whispered into Therese’s ear.

Therese felt Carol’s voice sending vibration through her ears, and she also felt her warm breath as she whispered the words “thank you” to her. That moment made her heart pounding nonstop. She was afraid of Carol finding out how badly enough her heart was beating so fast that she had to withdrew from the hug. This time she was holding onto Carol’s elbows, and Carol was clinging onto her shoulder. They were staring at each other until Carol spoke again.

“You really shouldn’t have gotten me anything. I don’t deserve these.”

“Why not?”

“Am I even your friend?”

“You are now.” Therese finally smiled, with her deep, cute dimples showing.

Carol hugged her again, but this time the hug was short. She immediately went to get her camera and replaced its strap with the one that Therese gave her. She also changed her lens to the new one. Therese, Abby, and Genevieve just watched Carol fiddle with her camera and giggled.

“Should we take a picture?” It was only then that Carol realized that they were all looking at her. “I still don’t know how to use this lens so maybe you could set this up, Therese? I also brought a tripod.”

The five of them took different kind of photos. They took a picture with the five of them together, a picture of Carol with her daughter, and Therese even took a picture of Carol with Abby and Genevieve.

“Now, let’s take a photo of just the two of us together.” Carol told Therese.

“No need!”

“I insist, Therese. Come.” Carol patted the seat next to her on the sofa.

Therese sheepishly walked slowly and sat next to Carol. Genevieve knew how to operate a DSLR, so she instructed Genevieve to take their photo.

“Sit comfortably.”

Therese did as she was told, so she placed both of her hands on her lap. Carol placed her right hand on the sofa while she gently tried to place the other on Therese’s lap, but failed miserably since it was Therese’s hand that brushed against hers.

“Oops. Sorry.” Carol unapologetically said. She never pulled her hand back and just went on to glance and smile at the lens.

Therese was taken aback by Carol’s unexpected boldness but she tried to play it cool instead.

 

For dinner, they had [seared scallops with sweet jalapeno salsa, French onion soup, and beef bourguignon ](https://imgur.com/a/6vZnyla)all courtesy of Abby’s amazing cooking. Carol was never a great baker, but she still managed to make a [chocolate poke cake with caramel sauce on the inside and icing on top](https://imgur.com/a/G6DXwEb).

The four of them sang Carol a happy birthday after lighting up the candle on her cake.

“What’s your wish, mommy?” Rindy asked her mother as she blew her cake after they ate dinner.

“Inner peace. And your happiness of course, sweet pea. Give me a kiss.” Carol flashed another smile yet again and then pointed her lips to her daughter for a kiss.

“Thank you for coming, ladies. I know how boring and corny this celebration is, but I’m glad that I have the most important people in my life with me today.” She looked at the three ladies one by one as a thank you gesture before slicing the cake.

 

“We promised Rindy a game of Uno tonight, remember?” Genevieve said while clearing up the dining table.

“Oh yeah, let’s do it here at the kitchen counter. I don’t feel like sitting down on the floor. Rindy, can you get the cards?” Commanded Carol.

 Rindy was only five years old, but she was smarter than average. While kids her age played with barbie dolls, she played with puzzles and practiced reading. She’s also good at playing Uno, her favorite family game.

“You should come play with us, Therese.” Carol said to Therese.

Therese quietly nodded and yawned.

 

All five of them started Uno with a bang, with Therese winning the first round. The group was noisy, especially Rindy and Abby who kept on laughing and occasionally glaring at each other whenever one of them draws out a +4 or a reverse card.

“You seem sleepy, Therese.” Carol, who was sitting next to Therese, noticed how the woman kept yawning throughout the entire game.

Therese shook her hand in front of Carol. “I’m fine. Just a bit tired I guess.”

“You can sleep at the living room for a moment. Abby said you’ll leave at nine.”

“Can I? I’d like to play with you more but my eyes are really starting to give up.” Therese’s eyes were getting heavier and it was obvious by the way she slowly blinked.

“Of course, darling. Is the sofa okay with you? I can take you to the guest room but I haven’t arranged it yet.”

“No need! I’m fine with the sofa. I feel bad sleeping at your house but thanks, Carol.”

“Don’t be.”

Therese excused herself from the group and headed back to the living room. She fell asleep right away the moment she closed her eyes.

 

The clock just struck eight, but Abby was already preparing to head back to New York City.

“What happened, Abby?” Carol asked after Abby hung up her phone.

“This fucking freelance assistant director messed up with the callsheet for our commercial shoot on Monday. She sent out a different callsheet with a wrong date to the client and now we’re in huge chaos. I have to meet up with my staff as soon as possible.”

“You still don’t have an in-house AD?”

“Not at the moment. I prepared so much for this and went through so many meetings only for someone to mess the whole thing up.”

“Sorry about that, Abby.” Carol caressed Abby’s arm. “Don’t hire that loser again.” Jokingly said Carol to make Abby laugh.

“Happy birthday once again, love. I’m sorry we have to head back so soon.” Abby gave Carol a warm embrace. “Gen, you should wake Therese and tell her that we’re leaving.”

Genevieve was already about to wake Therese up when Carol stopped her.

“Don’t. Leave her be. I’ll let her stay here for the night. I think she’s very tired.”

 “But how is she-“

Carol interrupted Genevieve mid-sentence. “Rindy and I are heading back to New York City tomorrow, we’ll just take her with us.”

 

The two quietly bid their goodbyes to Carol and Rindy, giving each of them a hug and a kiss.


	8. Love on the Weekend

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have been really busy over the past few days and it was hard trying to squeeze writing into my schedule, but I did not want to delay this chapter any longer. I don't want to make you feel hanging. This is quite a short chapter, but the next one might be long. We'll see. Enjoy!

By the time Therese woke up, she knew that she overslept. Having no idea as to whether Genevieve and Abby were still at home, she squinted her eyes and tried to look around while still laying on the sofa. The whole living room was dark, but not too much, thanks to the dim lights up at the ceiling. She finally got up to take a seat and took a moment to stretch her upper body. The sofa was soft and comfortable, but it wasn’t made for sleeping and it gave Therese a painful stiff neck.

Careful not to make a noise, she silently tip-toed to reach for her bag and get her phone. She received three missed calls and two text messages from Dannie, and another text message from Genevieve. Dannie texted Therese out of concern. He wanted to know if Therese already got home safely and in the second text message, he asked why she wasn’t answering his calls. Therese opened Genevieve’s text message and found out that she and Abby left her under Carol’s care because she seemed too exhausted to go back. Therese replied to her with an “Ok” and went back to texting Dannie to reassure him that she’s safe and that she fell asleep at Carol’s place.

 It was at the moment when Therese heard somebody speaking; Carol. She tried to listen further but the voice was indistinct. For a few seconds she quietly observed where the voice was coming from, and discovered that it went from the kitchen. Therese cautiously made her way to the kitchen. She knew that she was on a phone call with someone because it was only Carol’s voice that she heard, but she wanted to approach her after the call ended so she could ask her questions.

Therese saw Carol. The lights weren’t on, but she could see Carol’s silhouette from afar as the moonlight reflected through the kitchen windows. She unintentionally heard bits of what Carol was saying and saw her lift her right arm to look at the jewelry that she wore on her wrist.

“Yes. Rindy’s okay. Oh, yes. I’m wearing it right now actually. Thanks, it’s beautiful. I found it in Rindy’s bag. You’re sneaky, aren’t you?”

The call finally ended after a minute or two. Therese waited a few more seconds before she called Carol’s attention.

“Carol?”

“Oh! Therese, you startled me.” Carol almost jumped out from the shock.

“I’m sorry. Can I talk to you?”

“Of course. Will you please turn the lights on?”

Therese did as she was told and went closer to the kitchen counter.

“I’m so sorry if I fell asleep for so long at your place. Gen texted me that they left an hour early before nine.”

“No worries. I didn’t want them to wake you up since you were sleeping so soundly, so it’s partly my fault why you’re still here. I’m sorry, Therese.”

Therese’s cheeks flushed. “No, it’s fine. I’ll just leave first thing in the morning tomorrow.”

“You don’t have to do that. Rindy and I are heading back to New York City tomorrow so I’ll drive you back. Did you sleep well?”

“I did, but my neck’s feeling a little bit stiff. It hurts.” Therese said as she caressed her neck.

“Oh, my. I knew you would wake up in the middle of the night because it’s hard to sleep on that sofa, so I fixed the guest room for you.”

“Thanks, Carol. Can I… get a glass of water?”

Carol smiled and proceeded to get a glass from the cupboard.

 

Therese picked up her bag in the living room and followed Carol upstairs.

Contrary to the first floor’s homey interior, the second floor actually looked stylish. White walls filled the room and bocote wood was used for the stairs and the door. The two of them went inside the guest room. The room was nice, Therese thought. It reminded her of Holiday Inn.

“You can take a shower before you go to bed. Everything you need is inside. I suppose you don’t have extra clothes?

“I don’t. I’ll just wear my clothes.”

“Wait a minute.” Carol stormed out of the room and came back less than three minutes later.

“Are these okay?” Carol handed Therese a gray silk pajama top and shorts and a new underwear. “I’ve never used this. Don’t worry.” Carol said, referring to the underwear.

“Thank you, Carol.”  

The two of them met each other’s gaze. Therese broke the silence and asked Carol why she was still awake since it was already past two midnight.

“I did mention earlier that I knew you wouldn’t last long on that sofa so I waited until you woke up. I also couldn’t sleep so I decided to call my ex-husband. See this?” Carol flashed her wrist in front of Therese. She quickly put down her hand, not wanting the younger woman to feel like she was bragging about her new [Cartier white gold bracelet](https://imgur.com/a/5itJThh). “I found it in Rindy’s bag. Turns out this was his birthday gift for me.”

“That’s really nice. Cartier? It matches mine! It’s good that you two still get along together so well.”

Carol promptly remembered that Therese had the same type of bracelet. It was almost the same kind, but Carol’s was a bit more expensive and Therese’s bracelet was rose gold. “But yours is rose gold if I recall correctly? Now we have matching bracelets.” Carol winked. “And yes. It’s weird that he still showers me with gifts even after the divorce, but he’s always been sweet to me even back to when we were still just friends.”

“It doesn’t seem weird to me. Your relationship with your ex-husband is healthy enough for your daughter.”

“You’re right.”

The two went up for a chit chat for a couple more minutes, until Carol decided to go back to her room.

“If you need me, my room is right next to Rindy’s. It’s the last door on the hallway. Good night.”

“Good night, Carol.”

Therese took a quick shower and fell right back to sleep after.

It was already morning and Therese was greeted with a beam of sunlight that was peeking through the window curtains. She had a good night’s sleep, plus the pajamas and bed were very comfortable. She wanted to sleep more, but she knew that it would be rude of her to sleep late in somebody else’s house, so she finally got up to fix the bed.

Therese went downstairs and headed straight to the kitchen after getting a faint smell of what must be Carol’s cooking.

“Good morning, Carol.”

“Therese! Good morning. Did you just wake up?”

“Yes.”

“Are you hungry?”

“Kind of.” Therese shyly answered. “Where’s Rindy?”

“She’s still sleeping. I just got back a few minutes ago actually. I took a thirty-minute ride with the Vespa. Good thing Rindy was still asleep when I came back.”

“You could have woken me up so I could look out for her.”

“I knew you’d wake up if she cried.” Carol grinned. “Just kidding. She rarely cries, but I know she’d be safe with you here, even if you were asleep.”

It was always Carol’s heart-warming choice of words that made Therese feel uneasy but touched. She didn’t know what to say, so she smiled at the older woman instead.

“Do you like [Monte Cristo sandwich](https://imgur.com/a/VXY93ml)? I’m making that for our breakfast. I cooked egg and bacon for Rindy because she doesn’t like Monte Cristo.”

“I love Monte Cristo! Let me help you out.” Therese stood next to Carol on the counter. “What can I do to help?” She smiled widely at her.

“You can crack and beat the eggs. The milk’s in the fridge, add one third of a cup of milk in the egg mixture.”

Therese already knew what to do, but she liked listening to Carol’s instructions. Monte Cristo is one of her favorite sandwiches to eat for breakfast, so she was delighted to know that it was one of Carol’s favorites too.

Carol was already preparing the sandwich when Therese asked her a question.

“Do you like strawberry jam?”

“I do, actually. Why?”

“Nothing, really. I just wanted to know.” Therese just shook her head.

 

“And it’s done! Therese, can you please pour us a cup of coffee? I’ll just wake Rindy. We’re leaving at ten by the way.”

“Sure.”

 

“This is delicious. Rindy, do you want a bite?”

The little girl just ignored her mother’s question and continued to take a bite of her bacon.

“What a brat.”

“I wonder who she takes her bratty trait after.” Therese giggled.

“Definitely not me! By the way, Therese, I picked out some clothes for you to wear later. It’s just a pair of leggings and a sweatshirt. Are you cool with that?”

“Yes of course. Thanks.”

“I’ll bring it to your room later.”

 

Therese still felt shy wearing Carol’s clothes. She could’ve just worn her dirty clothes, she didn’t mind that at all, but Carol was persistent. Carol’s clothes fit her just right, but with a little bit more of allowance, since she was thinner and smaller than the her by a couple of inches.

 

The three of them finally left the house and now they’re on their way back to New York City.

“Carol, thanks a lot for these clothes. I’ll wash them and send them back to you soon.”

“You don’t have to do that. You can keep them. They look good on you.”

Deep inside, Therese really wanted those clothes for herself. Not because they looked good on her, but because it was Carol’s. She wanted to keep a part of Carol to herself for some strange reason, but it would be impolite if she just agreed to it, so she fought back a little.

“Really, I appreciate the gesture but I can’t just keep what’s yours.”

Carol looked through the rear-view mirror and looked at her daughter who’s deep into her sleep, and then she continued, “Take me to dinner once again instead?” She took a quick glance at Therese and smiled.

It was a win-win situation for Therese, so without hesitation, she immediately said yes.

“When and where?”

“Surprise me.”

The first thirty minutes of their drive was silent, until Carol asked Therese if she had Spotify or Apple Music and that she should play music on the car.

Therese was unsure of what to song play. She didn’t know what kind of music Carol was into, so she put her playlist on shuffle instead. And in the most unexpected way, a song that somehow fit their current situation played through the car’s speakers.

 

_It’s a Friday, we finally made it_

_I can’t believe I get to see your face_

_You’ve been working, and I’ve been waiting_

_To pick you up and take you from this place_

_Love on the weekend, love on the weekend_

_Like only we can, like only we can_

_Love on the weekend, love on the weekend_

_I’m coming up and I’m loving every minute of you_

 

_You be the DJ, I be the driver_

_You put your feet up in the getaway car_

_I’m flying fast, like a wanted man_

_I want you baby like you can’t understand_

 

“That’s a really good song. I like it. John Mayer?”

“Yes. I love his music.”

 

 “Send me your playlist. I’d love to listen to the rest of the songs at home.” Carol said once they reached Therese’s apartment.

Therese always kept her hidden gem of music to herself, but she was happy to know that Carol liked the songs that were on her playlist.  

The two of them got out of the car and Carol went close to Therese to say her goodbye.

“Belated happy birthday, Carol. I really enjoyed staying at your place. I’ll update you on the dinner. Please tell Rindy I said goodbye.” Therese looked at the car window and Rindy was still asleep.

“Thank you. I really didn’t expect you to be there, so it really surprised me that you came to visit. I also wanna’ thank you for the gifts. You’re the best.”

“It’s no biggie.” Therese flashed a smile that reached her dimples.

And just like that, Carol leaned in for a hug.

“I don’t know why but I really feel happy whenever I’m with you.” She whispered.

“Carol..” She didn’t exactly know what Carol meant, but she could definitely feel the older woman breathing slower with her chest pounding hard.

Carol let go of the hug and faked a laugh. “I’m sorry, I get really emotional at times. I think it’s getting too obvious that I’m just lonely.”

“You don’t have to be sorry about it. You make me happy too.”

Nervous by her sudden confession, Carol tried to steer clear of her feelings by saying goodbye to Therese.

“I have to go now. That little girl needs to be put on a real bed.” She pointed towards her sleeping daughter.

“Take care, Carol.”

* * *

 

It was already ten in the evening and Therese was working on her laptop when she received a a message from Carol.

CAROL: These are some of the pictures from yesterday. The lens is wonderful. It gave off such a narrow depth of field which I really like.

Carol sent Therese three pictures. Their group photo with Rindy, another group photo without Rindy, and a photo of Carol and her daughter together.

THERESE: These are beautiful. I’m saving them. 😊

Therese did not receive a reply. After around two or three minutes, her phone buzzed again. Carol sent the photo of her and Therese together.

CAROL: And here’s us. My favorite. I’m going to bed now. Good night, T.

Carol’s message brought Therese a lump in her throat. She saved the image and carefully typed her message to Carol.

THERESE: I’ve been dying to see that photo. It’s also my favorite. Sleep well, Carol.

 

After their exchange of text messages, Therese decided that she didn’t want to go to bed just yet. She printed the photos and kept the first three to her photo album while she put the photo of her and Carol on the wall where she displayed her most precious pictures.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you have enough time, listen to John Mayer's Love on the Weekend here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzqLtnBc1dg  
> It's such a strange coincidence that when I wrote the car scene part, I stumbled upon this song for the first time and it reminded me of the Carol and Therese as well as the lyrics' similarity to the scene. 
> 
> Are you guys still reading? Please do leave a comment if you can. I would appreciate it a lot. I know I should write based on my feelings, but comments motivate me to write too. I'm also speaking in behalf of other writers who seek for comments. I know it's not just me who feels the same way. We want to know our readers' thoughts. It really helps us a lot. :)


	9. Ben & Jerry's

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone. It's been a long while. I have gotten so busy with work and just life in general, and I've got to admit I'm also suffering from writer's block. Forgive me. 
> 
> I saw someone tweet about this story so I thought it would be better to post this chapter that I've written about a month ago. This chapter was supposed to be long and it's still a work in progress, but I don't want you all to wait any further.
> 
> I strongly suggest that you re-read the story starting from chapter one just to refresh your minds. :) Have fun reading!

Carol hated Mondays. She hated taking her daughter back to Harge’s and feeling sad after. She hated going to work feeling sad. And she hated feeling sad. The only thing that she looked forward to this day was her lunch with Abby.

“She’s so nice.” Abby fixated her eyes on the salad that she was eating.

“Who’s nice?”

“Therese Belivet. Don’t you think her name is too weird though?”

“It’s unusual but nothing too weird, Abby.” Carol gawked at the woman in front of her.

“Isn’t it funny how artistic people have the most unique and weirdest names ever? I mean, think about it.” Abby started blurting out random people’s names from musicians like Mozart to painters like Picasso and the likes.

Not wanting to hear nonsense any longer, Carol rolled her eyes and interrupted Abby. “She said it’s Czech. I asked about it when we had dinner together last time. Your last name is unusual too but we never talk about it.” Carol paused for awhile and whispered “Gerhard” to herself and laughed.

“Why are you such a bitch, Carol?”

After finishing her meal, Carol silently lowered her head and went silent for a moment. “All jokes aside, I feel like something’s wrong with me.” She said as she slowly brushed the back of her right hand with her left thumb.

Abby looked at her with worry. “What are you talking about? Are you sick?”

“No! Of course not. It’s about Therese.” Carol held out a deep breath before she continued. “I feel insanely weird whenever I’m with her.”

“Care to elaborate?”

“I know this is embarrassing but whenever I’m with her I just feel very comfortable and happy. It’s crazy because we barely even know each other, but somehow I keep on wanting to see her more.”

“Do you like her?”

“I like her. Don’t you?”

“Not “like” like. Do you LIKE her?” Abby emphasized on the third “like”.

“Oh, I don’t know, Abby!” Carol groaned in frustration as she covered her face with her hands.

“Carol, honey.” Abby reached out for Carol’s hand. “Maybe it’s because you haven’t had a new friend in awhile and now you’re starting to socialize again, or maybe you really do like her?”

“Probably. I’ve been lonely for a long while and having her as my new companion feels nice. But I can’t like her, Abby. I just can’t. I’m confused.”

“Tell me why.”

“It’s just wrong.”

Abby folded her arms and sat straight in front of Carol. “Look at me. Are you ashamed of me because I like women? Are you saying it’s wrong that I like the same sex?”

“Abby, that’s not it. Be who you want to be for all I care. I’ll always support you no matter what. But in my case, it’s just different, you know? I’m a divorcee and I have a child. The heck is this silly crush about?”

“It’s not silly if you’re serious about it. But it’s way too early to tell, Carol. And she’s young.”

Carol shrugged and rubbed her temple. “You’re right. This is nothing. I probably shouldn’t sweat it. But we’re going out again soon. For dinner.” There was a hint of nervousness in Carol as she cleared her throat.

 

Work has been way too slow for Carol that day, and at around noon she received a text message from Therese.

THERESE: Hey. How does Wednesday night sound for you?

CAROL: Perfect.

THERESE: But wait

THERESE: It’s a holiday on Thursday.

CAROL: Yes. What about it, Therese?

Carol’s message was left on read for a few minutes, until Therese replied again.

THERESE: You can stay the night if you want to. But it’s ok if you don’t.

CAROL: I can stay the night? What a tempting offer that is. You can’t take that back.

THERESE: I have never invited anyone here for a sleepover, you should be honored. :P JK!!

CAROL: I am pretty much honored. I haven’t gone to a sleepover in years. Life is tough when you’re getting old. Rindy’s at my ex-husband’s so I guess it’s a yes? What do I have to bring?

THERESE: Just yourself and some clothes. See you, Carol.

CAROL: See you soon, Therese. X.

 

From dinner to a sleepover. Real quick. Carol was definitely surprised by the offer but it got her excited. _Why did she invite me to stay the night?_ It was a thought that Carol pondered upon until late night.

 

Wednesday came surprisingly fast. The whole day Carol was just nervous that it took her an hour that morning just to pick three outfits: the outfit that she’ll wear when she arrives, one set of pajamas, and one outfit that she’ll use for when she’s leaving. They agreed the other night for Carol to arrive at Therese’s apartment at 7 pm. During lunch time, Carol went out of the warehouse so she could grab a bottle of wine that she would bring as a gift for Therese. After work, she hurried back to her place to take a shower and change her clothes.

 

* * *

 

Therese was busy with her last-minute editing at her studio when she realized that she had to quickly head home already to cook their dinner. She promised Carol a good meal and she didn’t want to disappoint the woman. Right after they ended the call last Monday night, Therese instantly regretted the fact that she asked Carol to stay the night. She only has one bedroom, and now she doesn’t have a choice but to sleep on her couch. She has also thought of just staying the night with Carol awake, watching movies or playing games or whatever, but she wasn’t sure if Carol would dig the idea. _Millennials sure think differently._ She said to herself.

Therese was able to buy the ingredients for dinner just a few hours ago during lunch. She was lucky enough to have a mini fridge with a freezer at her studio to store her goods before she went back home. It was never a part of her plan to get a fridge at her studio, but it was Phil, Dannie’s brother, who insisted that she get one. And when she said no, it was Phil who bought her a fridge instead. _“One day you’ll get a client who’s gonna’ need an ice cream as a prop and one day we’re all going to visit here craving a goddamn cold beer.”_ He was right. Growing up, Therese always thought that Phil had the most bizarre ideas compared to Dannie, but he always made a lot of sense.

The moment Therese arrived home, she immediately prepared her ingredients on the counter and went for a very quick shower. She knew that dinner wasn’t going to take too much time to cook, so she didn’t panic.

At exactly 7pm, dinner was almost cooked, but Carol hasn’t arrived yet. Two minutes later, she heard her phone ring.

“Carol?”

“Hi. I’m downstairs.” Therese could hear Carol’s heavy breathing through the phone.

“Why haven’t you taken the elevator?”

“I’m nervous.”

Therese laughed. “Ok, you can come in now. I’m on the second floor in case you’ve forgotten.”

“I remember your text. Give me a sec.” Carol hung up.

Another two minutes into the clock and Therese heard a soft knock on her door.

“Hi.” Carol greeted her with a shy smile.

“Hey! Come in. Why didn’t you ring the doorbell?” Opened her arms for a hug.

“You knew I was going to be here already anyway.” Carol broke apart from the hug and continued, “I smell something amazing. What are we having?”

“You’ll find out later. Are those.. wines?” Therese looked down to Carol’s hand and pointed at the wine bags that Carol was holding.

“I brought two.” Carol raised her hand up. “I didn’t know if you liked red or white wine better.”

“Thanks, Carol. You didn’t bring a bag?” The lack of bag in sight worried Therese. She thought that Carol would no longer stay the night and would leave after dinner.

“No. I’m going back down later. It’s still in my car.”

“I see. My apartment is small but please suit yourself.” Therese motioned towards the kitchen after.

“I love your apartment.” Carol said as she walked around Therese’s living room all the way to the kitchen.

 

Dinner was simple yet it looked fancy. Therese made surf and turf which consisted of a medium rare steak and creamy garlic shrimp. They also had a small portion of spinach salad on the side as well as twice baked potatoes. The two of them decided to pair their meal with the red wine that Carol brought earlier.

“God, this is heaven.” Carol exclaimed as she took a bite of the steak. “Thank you, Therese.”

“You’re most welcome.”

“Did you take culinary classes? I wouldn’t expect someone your age to be this good at cooking.”

“I didn’t. It’s nothing, really. I cook when I’m bored, and I’ve been living independently for god knows how long.”

“You’re so good.” Carol wouldn’t stop giving Therese compliments. She was impressed by the woman’s cooking skills. “You’re very…” Carol dismissed her thoughts and started eating again.

“Very what?”

Carol swallowed her food and continued to speak with a hint of shyness in her voice. “Very wife material. Too bad your ex didn’t see your worth.” Carol could not look at Therese in the eye as she spoke.

“Believe it or not, I have never cooked him a proper meal before. He’s very picky with his food and would only eat certain meals. But what about you? I’m sure your ex-husband loved your cooking.”

“I’d be lying if I said he didn’t. I still cook him food sometimes.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever asked, but what was your last name when you got married?”

“Aird. My ex-husband’s name is Harge Aird.”

“Aird…” Therese wiped her mouth with a napkin before she continued and gasped when she has suddenly thought of something. “Of Aird Global?”

“Spot on, darling. How did you know about Aird Global?”

“I know a fair number of colleagues working in the advertising industry. And who doesn’t know Aird Global? I didn’t know you worked there, Carol. That’s amazing. What used to be your position there?” By this time Carol has already gotten Therese intrigued and she has almost forgotten the food that she has left on her plate.

“I was Executive Vice President for three years. It took months and countless of meetings with the directors and the shareholders of WPP Group before I could resign.”

“Isn’t WPP Group the biggest corporate communications company in the world?”

“One of the biggest. They acquired Aird Global years ago.”

“Holy shit, Carol. Sorry but I’m just.. stunned.”

“You can ask me more questions later. Now go back to eating, slowpoke.” Carol softly kicked Therese’s leg under the table.

 

“I’m so full, Therese. Help.” Carol held out her hands, jokingly asking Therese to help her get up from her chair. Therese nicely pulled her so she could stand. Carol almost lost her balance, making the two of them laugh. 

The two of them worked on the dishes together. Soon after, Carol told Therese that she will be going downstairs to get her bag of clothes in her car.

“Maybe we should take a little walk together before you get your bag? I didn’t prepare any dessert, but a pint of ice cream would be nice. Let’s go and get one.” Therese suggested.

As they were walking to the nearest CVS Pharmacy to get a pint of Ben and Jerry’s, Carol broke the silence by bumping her waist onto Therese’s while walking. Therese did the same and this resulted to both of them laughing hard on the streets. The weather wasn’t too cold, but it was enough to feel the evening breeze.

“What do you want to do, Carol? We can watch a movie or play games or something. But I assume you wouldn’t want the latter.”

“Because I’m old?” Carol glared at her.

“No! It’s not that. It’s just that not a lot of women are into playing games.”

“Well, what are my other options?”

“Or we can just spend the rest of the evening talking about random things.”

“I like that one better. But let’s watch something first, and after we finish the ice cream, let’s do all the talking.”

The two arrived back to Therese’s apartment around 15 minutes later.

“Have you already taken a shower?”

“I did. But can I use your powder room? I just have to remove my makeup and change my clothes.” Carol replied.

“There’s a powder room over there but I wouldn’t suggest you use it since it’s small. You can use my bathroom instead.” Therese directed Carol all the way to her bedroom where her full bathroom is.

“Nice room.” Carol said as she examined her minimalist bedroom.

Therese was relieved with Carol’s remark. It took her almost half an hour to clean her room that morning.

Therese was sitting on her couch waiting for Carol to change. When she heard the woman’s footsteps, she lifted her head to see Carol, wearing another one of her silk pajama top and shorts that’s black in color.

“You still have the PJs that I gave you, right? You should wear that one so we’d match. If you like.”

“Oh yeah, right. Wait a minute.” Therese was still in shock after seeing the bare-faced beauty in front of her. It’s her second time seeing Carol without makeup, but her first time to actually appreciate the woman’s beauty.

Therese finally changed into her pajamas that looked identical to Carol’s.

“Don’t we look adorable?” Carol smiled from ear-to-ear.

“Heck yeah.” Replied Therese as she picked up the pint of cookie dough flavored Ben & Jerry’s from the freezer, and then went to the living room to take a seat next to Carol on the couch.

“I hope you don’t mind that I already chose a movie.” Carol was ready to press play on the remote.

“Not at all. I love Pretty Woman. It’s one of my favorite movies of all time.”

The movie was already on its opening credits when Therese opened the ice cream lid and groaned, which made Carol turn to Therese.

“What’s wrong?”

“Shit! I forgot to get another spoon, wait a minute.”

Therese was already about to stand up but Carol was quick to grab her by the forearm.

“Stay. I don’t need it.”

“You’re not going to eat?”

“I’m not in the mood for dessert yet. But I suppose we could share.” She pointed at Therese’s spoon using her lips. “If you don’t mind. I just wanna’ taste the ice cream once.”

“Are you sure?” Therese is not the type to get grossed out with sharing spoons, but she was concerned that maybe Carol is. And the thought of sharing a spoon with Carol made her heart jump out.

“It’s not like I’m gonna’ die if we share a spoon.” Carol chuckled after giving Therese her reassurance.  

“Okay. You can go first.” Therese handed her the pint of Ben and Jerry’s and the small spoon. Carol took one bite of the ice cream. As Therese was looking at Carol, she noticed that the older woman raised her eyebrows.

“This is really good. I’ve never had this flavor before.” Carol looked at the packaging as if taking note of its name before handing it back to Therese.

“Are you done?”

“Yeah.”

But Therese knew that she wasn’t. Slowly, Therese grabbed a bite of the ice cream. She was still nervous about the fact that she and Carol just shared a spoon together, but she soon got over it after a few more spoonful of the dessert. A few minutes later, she felt Carol’s toes poking her foot. She looked at Carol who was already staring at her.

“Can I have another?”

Therese laughed. “I knew you wouldn’t be able to resist.” She looked at the inside of the pint before returning it to Carol. “I’m already halfway through finishing it, you can have the other half.”

“This is really so good.” Carol’s voice deepened as she devoured the scrumptious dessert.

It took Carol a couple more minutes to finally finish the whole pint of ice cream. Therese never found Carol cute before. This was a first for her. She couldn’t stop thinking and smiling about what just happened.

The movie ran for over an hour when Carol decided that they just chit-chat instead.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you think of this chapter? I am sorry I didn't add pictures of the food anymore. I might not be able to do it in the upcoming chapters as it takes so much research and my 9 to 5 is killing me.


	10. Thursday Blues

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone. I just want to say thank you for the continuous support. I'm also overwhelmed by the kudos you guys have given this story. I appreciate the kindness. Enjoy this chapter!

“Still have that sucker that I gave you, sweet pea? Eat it tomorrow instead, it’s too late for you to be eating that. I love you Rindy. Sleep tight.”

Therese spent a few minutes of her time checking her new emails on her laptop while Carol called her daughter on the phone. Therese didn’t want to eavesdrop, but she couldn’t help but smile because of how loving Carol sounded as she spoke to Rindy.

“Sorry about the sudden interruption. I almost forgot to give Rindy a phone call. I do that every night just to reassure her that I’m always with her.”

“It’s fine. You’re very sweet to her. It’s cute.” Therese replied as she closed the lid of her laptop.

“Do you want to talk over a glass of wine here on the couch?” Carol said as she patted on the free space of the couch.

“Sure. By the way, if you ever feel sleepy already, tell me and I’ll make the bed for you.”

“I’m not yet sleepy. Plus, I don’t think there’s another bedroom.” Carol made an attempt to look around the apartment to see if there’s another room she left unnoticed.

“You can sleep on my bed. I’ll sleep here on the couch.”

“No, don’t do that. I can stay here.”

“Silly. I can’t make a guest sleep on the couch.” 

There was a streak of silence for a few moments, until Carol eventually started to speak.

“You know what? We already shared the same spoon anyway, so what harm could sleeping together in one bed actually do?”

“I don’t want you to feel uncom-“

“I’m not uncomfortable with you at all. Don’t worry, Therese.” Carol avoided the younger woman’s gaze by walking away from her and proceeding to the kitchen to get wine glasses at the cupboard. “Red or white?”

Little did Therese know that Carol was just as nervous as she was too.

“Let’s try the white one this time.”

“Here you go, _Madame_.” Carol placed two glasses on top of Therese’s coffee table and poured the two of them a glass of white wine.

“Madame yourself.” Therese smirked.

 

 

“Tell me more.” Carol turned to the side to face Therese. She learned her head onto her hand while she placed her elbow on the back of the couch for support.

“Tell you more of what?”

“Yourself.”

“Believe me when I say that there’s nothing more to know about me other than the fact that I cook and take photos.”

“Mhm.” Carol just smiled, amused but still not convinced.

“Oh! I had braces when I was 11, and then I had to get braces again at 17.”

“Really?” Carol laughed. “But why?”

“Ate hard candies and I didn’t wear my retainers often.”

“You naughty girl. Remind me to take Rindy to the dentist as soon as possible.” Carol joked as she sipped her wine.

The two women’s conversation went further from random to serious topics until Therese asked Carol a question that piqued her interest.

“Hey… Did you know that months before I graduated, I was scouted to work for Aird Global?”

Carol gasped. “Oh no I didn’t! Who scouted you? Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

“I didn’t think it was necessary for me to tell, but I didn’t want to hide it from you either that’s why I’m telling it to you now. I don’t really want to work in the advertising industry and I’ve always had this vision to make a name for myself. I forgot who it was that scouted me. But I do remember that it was a woman.”

“Ah. Must be Beth. She used to study at CCA. We could’ve known each other way earlier if you accepted her offer, you know.”

“Yeah, but we probably wouldn’t become good friends just like now if that was the case.”

“You’re right.” Carol nodded.

After a couple of glasses and a couple of different topics of conversation later, Carol noticed that Therese was already starting to speak inaudibly and has been showing signs of slight drunkenness, so she suggested that they should already go to sleep. Therese told her that she was going to make the bed and she wobbly walked towards the bedroom. Making the bed for two people was new to her and it didn’t help that she wasn’t feeling so well after drinking wine. She initially thought of giving Carol more space so she moved her own pillows more to the side.

“What are you doing, Therese? This is a queen-sized bed. Even my daughter could fit in here with us.”

“As I said, I didn’t want to make you feel uncomfortable.” Therese mumbled.

“Shh.” Carol shooed Therese away and re-arranged the pillows. This time, their spaces were even and their pillows were adjacent and close to each other. “Now, that’s perfect.”

It took the two of them a couple more minutes before they finally settled laying down in bed. Being the timid girl that Therese is, she laid down to her side with her back facing Carol, while Carol laid down facing Therese’s back.

“Good night, Therese.” said the older woman.

“Good night, Carol.” Therese said as she reached for her night lamp so she could switch it off.

 

  
Carol dozed off shortly after, but it wasn’t long until she felt a finger continuously poking her arm. She opened her eyes and saw Therese facing her while smiling.

“Hm?” Carol was tired and sleepy and it was obvious by the way she spoke.

“Carol, I think the wine is making me feel hot.” Therese giggled as she whispered.

It was only then that Carol realized that Therese almost finished the whole bottle by herself, while Carol only had three glasses that were always just a quarter full. “You’ve had too much wine, sweetheart.”

Slowly, Carol carefully placed her hand on Therese’s cheek.

“You’re warm. And you’re a bit drunk.” Carol said the softest way that she could while gently caressing Therese’s rosy cheek with her thumb.

“Yeah.”

The next thing that Therese did surprised the older woman. She grabbed Carol’s hand that was on her cheek while also reaching for the other hand and held them tightly together.

“And your hands are cold.” Therese continued to speak.

The younger woman leaned closer to further reach the hands that she was holding and she let out a warm breath onto Carol’s ice-cold hands.

“Therese..”

And Therese did it again. And again. Again and again until Carol’s hands became as warm as hers.

The two women stared at each other as the moonlight peeking through the windows illuminated their faces.

 

Therese was sleeping on her back when she felt the loud but brief vibration of her phone under her pillow. _Must be Dannie_. She immediately thought as soon as she got into her senses. She stayed still for a couple of seconds and kept her eyes closed only for her to notice that something didn’t feel right. Her stomach felt heavy. She opened her eyes to find out that Carol was holding on so tightly to her waist, still deep into her sleep. This caused Therese to freeze. She was so afraid of waking the woman up if she didn’t stay still. She tried not to breathe too hard and to calm her racing heartbeat down, but she was failing.

Carol’s face was so close to Therese’s neck that she could almost swear she could feel the older woman’s breathing onto her skin, but she soon dismissed the thought and started to think that maybe she was just hallucinating.

She closed her eyes. Knowing that this was a moment that she was going to relive some time in the future. It was a moment that she wished never stopped. It felt odd, it felt wrong, but somehow everything still felt so right.

Therese tried to keep her eyes shut for as long as she could, but she also wanted to take the chance to stare at the beautiful woman sleeping so close to her, so she opened her eyes and gently tilted her head so she could properly take a good look at Carol. _How can a woman look this beautiful and innocent? Even I don’t look like this._ She said to herself while gently tucking a few strands of Carol’s hair into her ear. Therese wanted to stare at Carol longer because she knows very well that this will never happen again, but her sleepiness is kicking in once more and just a few minutes later, she was back to being asleep. 

 

* * *

 

“Good morning, sleepyhead. I hope you don’t mind that I rummaged into your fridge to make breakfast.”

“Not at all.” Therese scratched her head while yawning.

“No _good morning_ for me, too?” Carol frowned at Therese.

“Good morning, Carol. Everything smells great, but I look like a mess right now so I’m gonna’ wash up first.”

“Oh, shut it. You still look _perfect_ to me, but go on.”

Therese turned away from Carol fast to hide her flushing red face and headed straight into the bathroom.

 

 

“What time are you leaving?” Therese asked before taking a sip of the iced coffee that Carol prepared for her. “This is really good.”

“What time do you want me to leave?”

“It depends on you. You can stay here for as long as you like.” The truth is, Therese didn’t want Carol to leave yet. Moreover, she was still occupied with her thoughts about what happened a couple of hours ago in bed. She wondered if Carol was aware that she was nuzzling the younger woman in her sleep, but gauging from the older woman’s current actions, it didn’t seem like she knew. _Maybe she woke up in a completely different position._ She thought.

“I probably should get going in awhile. I have some grocery shopping to do because Rindy’s going back home tomorrow. By the way, try the scrambled eggs. It’s different from the usual.”

Therese nodded and did what she was told. Carol was right. It’s a lot foamier than most scrambled eggs, but the mayonnaise, parmesan, and the different herbs really helped enhanced its rich flavor.

“This is the best breakfast ever, Carol. Thanks.”

“It’s no biggie.” Carol smiled and proceeded to eat her toast. “Oh!”

“Yes?”

“I can’t believe I totally forgot about the whole picture situation. I got the wood print last Monday and it’s amazing. Thanks, Therese. I hung it up on my wall right after I got it but I forgot to update you because I was busy.”

Therese knew because she was the one who personally brought it to the courier to have her photograph delivered at Carol’s place.

“That’s good to know. I should be the one saying thanks because you purchased my piece.” Therese responded.

“You seem off today. Why are you so quiet? Did you really like the food?” Carol seemed a tad bit disappointed.

“Of course I do. I’m just usually very quiet during breakfast.”

“You weren’t like that the last time, but alright. It must be the wine from last night. Does your head hurt?”

“I’m fine, Carol.”

Carol just nodded her head in silence.

It was the fact that Carol is about to leave that Therese was feeling the blues, and she was angry at herself for feeling that way. She knows deep down that she likes Carol. No matter how hard she dismissed her thoughts, her feelings were as clear as the sky and she can’t deny that.

It took a couple more minutes for the two of them to finish breakfast and soon after, Carol asked Therese if she could use the shower.

“You’re free to use it whenever you want.” replied the younger woman with a smile.

“Thanks, dear.”

 

 

Therese was busy fiddling with her phone on the couch when she heard the door from her room open.  She lifted her head to see Carol in a robe with her hair wet.

“Can I borrow your lotion? I completely forgot mine. Sorry.”

“Sure.” Therese managed to smile. She immediately went to her room and Carol followed.

“I have a hairdryer if you need one.” added the young woman as she handed Carol her lotion. “I forgot to put it in the bathroom because I usually just dry my hair here on my bed.

“You’re a godsend. Please.”

Therese went to one of her drawers to get the hairdryer. “I’ve never used a hairdryer on anyone’s hair before. Let me try it on you. Come and sit here on my chair.” said Therese as she started untangling the hairdryer’s wire. And just like that, she was back in a good mood again. That’s how big Carol’s impact is to the younger woman.

“Okay. That should be fun. I do it all the time for Rindy and believe me, it gets tiring especially when your arms start to fail you.” Carol was busy putting lotion on her arms and legs while sitting on the bed and when Therese saw what she was doing, the younger woman immediately looked away from the shyness.

 

“Your hair smells amazing.” said Therese as she tried to carefully untangle Carol’s wet blonde curls.

“I’ll leave the shampoo and conditioner if you like. You have to try them.”

“Really?”

Carol saw Therese’s excited reflection on the mirror in front of them, and this made her smile. “Of course you can have it.”

“Thanks.”

 

The hairdryer was running too loud, making it difficult for the two of them to speak. Shouting from their lungs gave them a reason to laugh out loud, and at one point Therese said something that Carol could not hear no matter how many times she repeated it.

“What?” Carol shouted.

Therese, who’s starting to get frustrated after repeating the same thing more than twice, turned off the hairdryer and leaned over close to Carol’s ear.

“I said my arms are starting to hurt.” she said in her normal tone of voice.

Carol turned to look at Therese and the two of them giggled.

“You did great. I’ll finish it from here since my hair is almost dry anyway. Thanks.”

“Take your time. I’ll just be in the living room.”

 

“Time to go!” Carol said as she walked down the living room carrying her bag. “Thanks for everything, Therese. I haven’t had this much fun in awhile.” Carol wore a simple gray sweatshirt with black leather trousers.

“I should be thanking you, too. I’m glad you had as much fun as I did. So, you’re headed off to the grocery store next?”

“Yeah.”

The two of them headed to the door and bid their goodbyes. A few seconds have gone by since their hug but Carol was still standing straight in front of the younger woman.

“I think I like you, Therese.” it took every bit of her sanity just to say those words that she have been meaning to say since last night.

Therese was taken aback by Carol’s words. _Is she fucking serious?_ It took a couple of moments for Therese to finally let Carol’s words sink in. Her eyes have started to become a bit blurry but she fought back her tears. 

“I’m sorry, Carol.” said Therese firmly. It was the very last thing that she wanted to say, but she had to say it.

Carol forced a smile and left without saying a word.


End file.
